February 11, 2022 - Have you planned your 2022 Valentine's Day in Split yet? This should help. 

Valentine's Day is around the corner, and whether you're the type of partner that plans ahead or fails to realize your significant other's favorite holiday is only three days away - we have you covered. 

Split restaurants are just beginning to reveal romantic menus and Valentine-themed events for this weekend with a selection of special offers fit for all lovers. 

Zinfandel Food & Wine Bar 

Zinfandel Food & Wine Bar has announced a special fish, meat, and vegetarian menu on Valentine's Day. Enjoy live music and 3-course menus for 230 kuna per person.

Reservations: 099 874 0132

Brasserie on 7

Brasserie on 7 reopens February 12, just in time for a fab Valentine's Day brunch! Check out the menu below at 200 kuna for two people. 

Mazzgoon

Mazzgoon is preparing a secret dinner on Saturday, February 12, and Monday, February 14, with an aphrodisiac menu and DJ! 

Baraka

Want to hear live music? Head to Baraka on Monday for an Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry tribute band!  

Kavana Central 

Kavana Central at Heritage Hotel Santa Lucia is offering two 4-course menus (fish and meat) for 290 kuna.

 Reservations: 091-317-8350

Allora Restaurant

"Spend Love Day with your loved one at Allora Restaurant with romantic music and dinner courses.

We have prepared two menus for you:
FISH:
- Greetings from the kitchen
- Shrimp tartare
- Crispy octopus
- White fish fillets
- Dessert
MEAT:
- Greetings from the kitchen
- Ramsteak carpaccio
- Arancini strogano
- French Rack
- Dessert

If you want to escape from the hectic everyday life and spend a weekend at Ora Hotel Split with someone you love or just come for dinner, there are various possibilities. 

For all information and reservations, contact us by phone 021 / 778-708 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.."

Perivoj

Perivoj announced their Valentine's Day couples: pork & steak and mullet & hake!

"We dimmed the lights, lit up the garden, played light music, and found the perfect pair in the selected wines for each course.

It's up to you to find your partner and choose your menu! We will start the celebration on Friday, February 11, and end on Monday, Valentine's Day!" said Perivoj. 

For all reservations, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

February 10th, 2022 - Even though most supermarket chains in Croatia advertise their sales and offers online, the good old paper catalogue isn't going anywhere. Instead, it seems to be an increasingly profitable means of advertising, luring customers with promises of discounts as inflation soars

If you’ve stayed in Croatia long enough that you’d have to go grocery shopping regularly, you will have noticed the stacks of catalogues at the entrance to any supermarket of your choice.

Staying or living in a residential building? The catalogues again, this time delivered straight into your mailbox, or left on top of the mailbox, or scattered on the floor.

Heaps and heaps of catalogues, multiplying at such speed that we collectively caved at one point and installed shelves or boxes for promotional materials in hallways around the country. So our mailboxes could finally fit some actual mail.

This is not a recent phenomenon, nor is it exclusive to Croatia. For years now, retail chains of all sorts have been competing for customers through the means of catalogues advertising all their current sales and offers. All accompanied by various exclamations and catchphrases, varying from meaningless to deceptive or even slightly aggressive.

Mega price! (Paradoxical, given the intended meaning.) 40% off everything! (*everything listed on these two pages.) You will not miss this! And so on, delivered weekly to your mailbox. Grocery retail makes up the bulk of it, followed by cosmetics, household items, home decor and furniture.

Although most have digital counterparts these days, the good old paper catalogue still seems to be a reliable and profitable enough means of advertising for us to be inundated by dozens of them each week. And they're not leaflets; they're proper magazines at this point. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to chuck them in the paper bin and save yourself from spiralling into the advertising abyss. Once you leaf through a few and start noticing patterns, that’s it. You’re done. They got your attention, and they’re not letting go.

We all love a good deal, and it’s nice to score a discount on a few items once in a while. But as food (and all other) prices in Croatia keep hiking up relentlessly, plenty of people don’t have a choice but to shop around in desperate search of those mega prices and 30% offs.

You don’t even have to do this out of financial need, necessarily. You have to do it not to get scammed by retail chains, artificially inflating prices one week and advertising mouthwatering discounts the next.

Again, nothing new under the sun, but this tried and tested sales tactic has been getting out of hand in recent times, so much so that the fed-up, underpaid supermarket cashiers will often softly rebel and advise you against making a purchase if they know something’s going on sale tomorrow. 

We’re at a point where it’s getting ridiculous. With the constant battle of grocery retail chains fought on catalogue pages, grocery shopping in Croatia is slowly evolving from a simple chore into actual labour. You’ve got to put in the time, study your catalogues religiously and plan for the week ahead - those enticing offers only last so long!

Those patterns I mentioned earlier? Give it a few weeks and you’ll notice there’s a handful of specific products that are seemingly always on sale in one retail chain or another, the discounted price is always the same across the board, and you’re a sucker for buying the thing when it’s not on sale. To name a few without actually naming them: a certain cocoa & hazelnut spread, a certain brand of chocolate-covered wafers, several brands of toilet paper.

In a similar vein, there are categories of products that all retail chains put on sale simultaneously. One brand of milk each, or butter, or coffee, or laundry detergent. God forbid you simply walk into a store and buy laundry detergent - you’ll sweat profusely, knowing it might be selling at 40% off somewhere else, and you’re not a sucker!

I’m joking, to a certain degree. The topic has become a bit of an unhealthy fixation of mine, and I find some aspects of it fascinating. Circling back to the previous paragraph, how do retail chains coordinate their efforts and agree on what’s going on sale the following month? Is it a conference call? A strategy planned quarterly? Q2 is all about dairy, lads! I wish I knew someone working in the mid- or upper echelons of any big grocery chain that operates in Croatia. I’ve so many questions.

Not to mention the mind boggling logistics of the catalogue industry. I can’t begin to imagine the number of executives, managers, photographers, designers, copywriters, editors, operatives and distributors required to constantly churn out those bad boys and keep them in circulation. Imagine the (probably unholy) cost of it all and the amount of paper wasted, only for 100% of it to end up in the trash eventually.

In the meantime, though, you accomplish your main objective of getting customers through the door, only for them to discover their local outlet only had 3 of those discounted shoe cabinets in stock and they sold out in 5 minutes that morning. They absolutely lose it.

Or the offensive small print pointing out that the advertised discounts don’t apply in, say, Zadar and Virovitica. Outrage ensues. (I love reading comments trashing retail chains on social media. I said it was an unhealthy fixation.)

There are plenty of people who depend on this insidious mechanism of marketing and sales to help them stretch their budget. Others can afford not to care about discounts, but will keep track of them anyway so they wouldn’t get played by the retail overlords. And finally, some don’t care at all and do their shopping unburdened by advertised sales; they're probably of most sound mind, but they overpay for their groceries. Whatever the case, there’s no winning. It feels as if we’re all on a twisted merry-go-round that spins and spins and no one’s getting off. Except for 30% off. While stocks last!

February 10th, 2022 - Surely one of the most charming cultural attractions in Croatia, the museum dedicated to Rovinj’s traditional 'batana' boats is set to reopen after a two-year renovation

The award-winning House of Batana in Rovinj closed its doors in late 2019 so that the building could undergo a series of renovation works. As reported by TCN at the time, the attraction was set to transform into a 21st-century museum and get a new exhibit that was to be fully digitized.

Two years later, the museum has got a new facade and fixtures, and the only thing left to do is for the new permanent exhibit to be installed in its place. If all goes according to plan, the attraction is supposed to reopen in April 2022, reports Morski.hr.

In 2016, the Batana Ecomuseum project was inscribed in the UNESCO’s World Register of Good Safeguarding Practices. It was recognised for its unique approach to preservation of the tangible and intangible heritage of Rovinj, based on local initiatives and expert-led development projects. Read more about the old exhibit in our dedicated feature.

The traditional wooden vessel gets its name after the Italian verb battere (hit, beat), associated with the sound of waves hitting the flat bottom of the boat. The batana was entered in the Register of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Croatia in 2008.

The renovation of the museum building cost around 2 million kuna. The equipment and the multimedia fixtures were partially funded through the project Culturecovery Interreg Central Europe, whereas the project Arca Adriatica Interreg Italy-Croatia helped finance the graphic design and multimedia.

Revamped and fully modernised, the House of Batana is supposed to open its doors at the end of April, and visitors can look forward to a number of new attractions; for example, old traditions of Rovinj and its natural heritage will be presented through the use of VR. The new exhibition will tell the story of batana and Rovinj-Rovigno in a modern and inspiring way, pushing its own boundaries and opening new horizons.

The objects from the original permanent exhibit were restored in cooperation with the Rovinj Civic Museum.

February 10, 2022 - Split city center and Diocletian's Palace will serve as main locations for the new Netflix crime film "The Weekend Away" starring actress and "Gossip Girl" star Leighton Meester. Its first trailer was released yesterday and the film will be available on the streaming platform on March 3.

''The Weekend Away'' is the new Netflix crime film and will premiere on the popular streaming platform on March 3 this year. The protagonist is none other than Leighton Meester, world-renowned for her leading role in the youth series ''Gossip Girl'', where she played Blair Waldorf.

Netflix/Screenshot

Meester began her acting career at a very young age, appearing in guest roles on well-known series such as ''Law and Order'', ''24'', ''Entourage'', or ''House'' until reaching the top of the fame in 2007 in ''Gossip Girl''. Along the way, she has also appeared in romantic movies and comedies. Now, the American actress joins a new project with a more serious facet.

Netflix/Screenshot

The movie follows two best friends, Beth and Kate, who plan a weekend getaway to Croatia to escape the problems of their everyday lives. But things take a turn for the worse when Kate ends up dead. With eyes on Beth as the prime suspect, Beth must fight to prove her innocence. But along the way, she discovers a painful truth.

Netflix/Screenshot

The film is adapted from the best-selling novel titled the same name by Sarah Alderson. Alderson wrote the script with Kim Farrant as director. Ben Pugh, Charlie Morrison, and Erica Steinberg produced the film as part of their deal with Netflix. Joining Leighton Meester in her first major role in three years, are Christina Wolfe, Luke Norris, Ziad Bakri, and Croatian actor Amar Bukvić.

You can watch the official trailer, which was released yesterday, below:

For everything you need to know about filming in Croatia, in your language, be sure to check Total Croatia's page.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 10 Feb 2022 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Thursday new coronavirus cases were on a downward curve but that due to the low vaccination rate, easing protocols and changing the role of COVID certificates was not under consideration yet.

We must be aware of the fact that there is still a large number of unvaccinated citizens who can become seriously ill, which is why Croatia cannot follow the examples of Denmark, Sweden or Great Britain, where sufficient vaccination rates allow for easing the restrictions, he said at a cabinet session.

Sharpest fall in new infections in the fifth wave

Beroš said that today Croatia had nearly 32% fewer daily new cases week on week and that this was the sharpest fall in the fifth wave of the epidemic.

In the last 24 hours, 45.81% of PCR tests and 10.69% of rapid antigen tests have come back positive.

The highest numbers of new cases have been recorded in Bjelovar-Bilogora, Šibenik-Knin and Zadar counties.

There are 57 fewer hospitalised COVID patients than yesterday and 13 fewer on ventilators.

There has been a mild fall in hospitalisations in the past few days, including fewer patients in intensive care units and on ventilators, the minister said.

To date 2,215,898 persons have been vaccinated, including 829,638 with a booster shot or 21.33% of the population.

COVID certificates continue to reduce the risk of infection spreading in hospitals, care homes and some work environments, Beroš said.

Despite sufficient vaccines and vaccination points, interest in vaccination is increasingly low, although Croatian Institute of Public Health data show that those who received a booster shot and later have been infected accounted for a mere 0.4% of  the total population.

Beroš said the ministry continued to monitor the provision of all emergency medical services and that special protocols existed for oncology patients to schedule checkups.

He said the expected rise in the number of oncology patients would not bypass Croatia and that the necessary steps were being taken to deal with the problem.

"The availability of health services for vulnerable groups is our priority. Priority waiting lists are being adjusted to additionally expand the possibility of urgent diagnostics for oncology patients," he added.

Coexisting with a virus which could stay long in the community

The head of the national COVID-19 crisis management team, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, said one could say that infection with the Omicron variant, which caused a surge in new cases and threatened to overload the health system, was decreasing.

"If such trends continue, while specially following the situation in the health system, the crisis management team will closely analyse a possible pace of easing the restrictions and creating the prerequisites for coexisting with a virus which could stay long in the community."

It will be very important to work on the education of citizens and define recommendations for the effective protection of every individual, with emphasis on greater caution for at-risk groups, Božinović added.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

ZAGREB, 10 Feb 2022 - The government has allowed the USS Harry S. Truman nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to sail into Croatian waters and stay in Split port from 11 to 15 February, with Defence Minister Mario Banožić underlining the good cooperation with the United States allies and partners.

"It's a routine visit for logistical replenishment and for the crew to rest," he said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Before the meeting, the minister told the press he would visit the ship on the 14th.

It will be an opportunity for talks with our American allies, partners, for a strong support which will be reaffirmed also in that way, he said.

The cooperation with the US Navy is intensive, Banožić said, recalling that its ships are overhauled in Croatia's Viktor Lenac shipyard.

The US Embassy sent a note to the Croatian Foreign Ministry requesting permission for the USS Harry S. Truman to enter Croatian waters. The government granted it under the Maritime Code.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 10 Feb 2022 - Farm Minister Marija Vučković said on Thursday the European Commission's call on Croatia to ensure an effective monitoring, control and inspection of bluefin tuna farms referred to audits from 2017-19 and that Croatia had since significantly improved its agriculture legislation.

"Croatia has two months to prepare a response. We'll see if the Commission will recognise all that we have done. I think we have done plenty," the minister told the press in Sveti Đurđ in Varaždin County.

As part of this month's infringements package, Croatia received a letter of formal notice after an audit and verification by the Commission "identified serious shortcomings in monitoring the transfer and caging operations of bluefin tuna."

"National authorities should ensure that data are cross-checked, accurate and validated, and should investigate potential non-compliance cases and take administrative or criminal measures against those responsible for infringing EU law," the Commission said, adding that Croatia "has not taken the necessary steps to address these deficiencies."

Croatia has two months to respond to the letter and take the necessary measures, the Commission said, adding, "In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion."

The press asked Vučković to comment on fisheries inspector Marko Pupić Bakrač's statement after the letter of notice, that she should resign or the prime minister should replace her.

The minister is meddling in the work of the inspectorate and telling us what to do, while documents on tuna imports in Croatia are being falsified, he said.

As reported by Slobodna Dalmacija daily, Pupić Bakrač said Croatian tuna farmers were being favored by being made to register tuna imported from Libya only after they exported it to Japan.

Meetings on that are held at the Agriculture Ministry, attended by a dozen ministry employees, and the minister, in agreement with farmers, tells inspectors how to act, he said, calling it abuse of office. He also warned about suspicious activities in the unloading of forage fish intended for tuna farms.

Vučković said Pupić Bakrač was "lying incredibly. He claims that I regularly met with farmers and fisheries inspectors to instruct them on how to conduct fisheries inspections. He's lying... I have never done it. Let him find one inspector or one farmer who will back him up."

She also said proceedings had been instigated against Pupić Bakrač at the Civil Service Tribunal "for violating regulations" and that this was not the first time.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 10 Feb 2022 - PEARL Infrastructure Capital, a French investment fund specialised in financing environmental infrastructure projects, has to date invested more than €50 million in biomass co-generation plants in Croatia, it was said at a presentation of its projects in Virovitica on Thursday.

The three plants, located in eastern Croatia, generate 18 megawatt of electricity per hour from biomass. These are the Energy 9 plant in Slatina, A&A Bioenergy Viro in Virovitica, and Uni Viridas in Babina Greda.

The Pearl Infrastructure Capital Deputy General Manager, Guillaume de Forceville, said that within one year, the fund had made considerable investments in co-generation.

"We have arrived in Croatia due to its favourable regulative framework," De Forceville said.

He added that they had plans to make some more investments but stopped short of specifying the possible amounts.

The current projects, including these three plants, have created roughly 600 jobs, he added.

The economy and sustainable development ministry's state secretary, Ivo Milatić, said that such investments "are perfect for the Croatian energy sector".

These three plants are also important as they are a stable source of energy, Milatić added.

The electricity produced in the plants is sold to the Croatian grid through a state-guaranteed long-term power purchase agreement with the national operator. They also provide heat.

Milatić noted that these plants have the status of energy producers with preferential treatment, and there are many such producers in Croatia, generating 3.4 terawatt hours of electricity annually, while the annual consumption of electricity in Croatia comes to 18.5 terawatt hours.

French Ambassador to Croatia Gaël Veyssière said that the investments of the Pearl group were an example of good economic cooperation.

This is an important moment in the French presidency over the EU, and it is important to contribute to efforts to change the economy in the EU deeply so as to make the Union greener and more sustainable, and biomass is a component in that regard, said the ambassador.

Croatia's National Recovery and Resilience Plan envisages 40% of investments in green and sustainable economy and these plants are part of that, he said.

For more, check out our business section.