ZAGREB, Aug 10, 2020 - The HZ Infrastruktura company is embarking on a project to upgrade the existing and build a second track of the railway running from Hrvatski Leskovac to Karlovac, with the value of the project being the highest of all other Croatian railway projects so far, amounting to HRK 2.3 billion, not including VAT, Vecernji List daily says.

The tender for the project, which will be co-financed by the European Union, which will provide 85% of the funding, will be published in September.

The Hrvatski Leskovac section is part of a railway running from Rijeka to the border with Hungary, and work has already started on upgrading the single-track line to a dual track from Zagreb to the border. Work is already underway on the section Dugo Selo-Krizevci and preparations are underway for work to begin on the section running from Krizevci to the state border.

Work on the Hrvatski Leskovac - Karlovac section will thus also launch work on upgrading the railway from Zagreb to Rijeka to a modern, dual track.

The Rijeka-Zagreb-Budapest railway is part of the Mediterranean TEN-T corridor.

The implementation of this project as well as other sections on which work has been underway or is planned will increase the competitiveness of the port of Rijeka by improving its transport connectivity to central European markets, the daily says.

Transport Minister Oleg Butkovic has said that the entire project could be completed by 2027.

Some very encouraging data indeed for the Croatian tourism sector, as almost 70 percent of the traffic achieved in the first nine days of August 2019 is achieved in the first nine days of this month. In August so far, there has been growth in arrivals from the markets of Germany, Croatia, Slovenia and Poland, reports the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ).

As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of August, 2020, according to the eVisitor system, in the first nine days of August 2020, a total of more than one million arrivals and 7.2 million overnight stays were realised in Croatia, which is about 70 percent of last year's result achieved in the same period. The highest number of overnight stays in the same period was also realised in Istria (1.7 million overnight stays), Kvarner (1.4 million overnight stays), Split-Dalmatia County (1.3 million overnight stays), Zadar (1.3 million overnight stays), Sibenik-Knin County (578,000 overnight stays), Dubrovnik-Neretva County (392,000 overnight stays) and Lika-Senj County (271,000 overnight stays).

"After an excellent July in which we achieved about 60 percent of last year's result, in August we're recording even better tourist trends and we're currently at about 70 percent of last year's result. The markets that reacted best are territorially closer markets for which Croatian destinations are easily accessible by road, such as Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. We've directed our promotional and information campaigns towards these markets throughout this time, communicating that Croatia is a safe and well-prepared tourist destination. In addition, with the increase in the number of airlines, tourist traffic in the southern parts of Dalmatia has intensified,'' said the director of the Croatian Tourist Board, Kristjan Stanicic, adding that, for example, Dubrovnik and London are currently connected with 44 flights per week.

In the previous part of August, the highest number of tourist arrivals came from the German market, around 225,000 of them in total, which is an increase of 6 percent when compared to the same period last year. This is followed by the domestic market with 178,000 arrivals, marking an increase of 18 percent, the Slovenian market with 133,000 arrivals, an increase of 10 percent, and the Polish market, with 109,000 arrivals, an increase of 16 percent when compared to the same period last year.

Looking at the destinations, so far in August, most arrivals were realised in Rovinj, Porec, Medulin, Crikvenica, Umag, Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Pula and Novalja. They also say that during the last weekend (from August the 7th to the 9th), there were more than 323,000 arrivals and 2.3 million overnight stays recorded in Croatia, providing a much needed spring in the step of the Croatian tourism sector during these trying times.

For more on Croatian tourism in the coronavirus age, follow our dedicated travel section.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, Aug 10, 2020 - The number of births in 2019 was higher than the number of deaths in only ten out of 128 towns in Croatia, says the Monday issue of Jutarnji List daily.

Figures provided by the national statistical office show that the number of births was higher than the number of deaths in Opuzen, Imotski, Kastela, Novigrad/Cittanova, Zapresic, Cakovec, Korcula, Solin, Pazin and Metkovic. Among those communities, only one is a bigger town, Cakovec.

As for county capitals, the most negative demographic trends were recorded in Vukovar, where last year only 194 children were born while the number of deaths was 405.

Zadar fares the best, having almost the same number of births and deaths, 686 and 705 respectively.

There were no new births in four communities - Ervenik and Kijevo in Sibenik-Knin County, Sucuraj in Split-Dalmatia County, and Ribnik in Karlovac County.

Collective data shows that 36,135 children were born in Croatia in 2019 - the lowest number since 1900, when demographic record-keeping started, while 51,784 people died.

Not counting emigration, Croatia's population in 2019 shrank by the size of a town like Porec.

The vitality index, which shows the number of births per 100 deaths, is 69.8 in Croatia. Not one county had a vitality index exceeding 100.

The number of births has been decreasing steadily since the mid-1990s while the number of deaths has been more or less stagnating.

Preliminary data for 2020 warn that the negative trends will continue - in the first six month of this year there were 150 fewer births than in the same period last year, the daily says.

August 10, 2020 - The southernmost inhabited Croatian island, Lastovo, together with other 45 islets, cliffs, and reefs, is Croatia's youngest nature park. Due to the richness of the Mediterranean plants and endangered animal species, Lastovo is among the last ten treasures of Mediterranean biodiversity. Along with Mljet, Lastovo is the most heavily forested Croatian island, with about 70% of it covered with forests. The larger settlements on the island are Lastovo, Ubli, Pasadur, Zaklopatica and Skrivena Luka.

The hilly landscape formed by numerous karst fields and bays is ideal for those who enjoy recreational cycling. The seabed rich in caves and passages is a paradise for diving lovers. Of the diving sites, the most attractive and the most visited are Seka Drašan and Petrovac.

In addition to the above activities, visitors can enjoy hunting, recreational and sport fishing and star gazing. Lastovo is an island with one of the darkest skies in Europe and among tourists, it's also known as „the island of crystal stars“.

According to the 2011 census, Lastovo has 792 inhabitants, but the real number is much lower. In the last ten years, many have moved away and the number of those who are registered there, but actually live and work elsewhere, is not negligible.

Most islanders are engaged in tourism and related activities such as agriculture, fishing and trade. Since the season on Lastovo is very short, tourism is not the only branch from which most residents live.

„Part of the population is employed in the institutions located on the island, such us JUPP Lastovo islands, Elementary School Braća Glumac, police, army, post office, state administration office… There are those whom agriculture, tourism or fishing is the only source of income, so when the season is over, after a short break, preparations for the next one begin very quickly“, says Bruna Rizvanović, director of the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Lastovo.

In terms of tourism, last year was a record for the number of overnight stays.

 „Due to the tendency to increase in number of overnight stays in the last seven years, we believed that it would continue by at least 5-10% in terms of capacity. We planned our activities accordingly. However, this epidemic surprised us all and showed that the future is unpredictable. I believe that we will be able to push through this year and that this experience will help us to become even better and to develop in line with sustainable tourism“, she explains.

During July 2020, 74.21% of last year's arrivals and 73.79% of last year's overnight stays were realized in the municipality of Lastovo. All catering facilities are open, but most of them opened later than planned, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As for the music festivals for which Lastovo is famous, one has not been held, and the other will be held from 12th to 16th of August.

„The 'LUZ – Lastovo u zvijezdama' festival was not held this year, but the reason was not the current situation, but technical difficulties with the organization. I believe and hope that next year, the organizers of LUZ will meet again and continue the tradition of a diverse program and offer in the pre-season period, which is extremely important for our island“, Rizvanović adds.

This year's edition of festival LAstovo.OTOKGLAZBE. adheres to a slighty different concept of organization due to the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the attitude of organizers about the importance of ensuring the health of visitors. Because of it, it will be held in a much smaller capacity, without the organization of a camp and with fewer visitors than usual.

DJ D-Gree, Stray Dogg and Mary May are responsible for the music program, while the young contemporary circus collective  Madame Gauc will perform the show „Fil“. In addition to the abovementioned program that will take place in MihajLA bay, part will take place in the village of Lastovo.

Rizvanović believes that the results of this tourist season are more than good, considering the situation in the rest of the county. 

„I believe that the distance of the island from large city centers and the lack of crowds, but also the fact that we didn't record any cases of COVID-19, have affected that the results of tourist traffic are higher than expected. People feel safe knowing that the possibility of infection on the island is small“, Rizvanović concludes.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

August 10, 2020 - On Friday, August 7, the 7th EVO RUKE! summer music festival began at Đardin park in Split.  This modern urban music festival turns Đardin into an oasis of jazz, blues and rock'n'roll. 

Visitors can enjoy the live performances of local performers on 29 summer evenings, starting every day at 21:00. And the best part? The entrance is completely free.

The festival was opened by the band Atomsko Sklonište and it will last until September 6th, when it will be closed by the famous hip hop band from Split, TBF.

„At the first edition of the festival, I came across an Irishman in the audience who asked me what #evoruke means and what is its translation in English. At that point, neither he nor I were able to agree on anything meaningful or similar in English. We discussed for more than half an hour and I don't even remember how many different interpretations I presented to him in Croatian“, explains Stevo Vučković Stivi, the founder and executive producer.

Vučković spent his whole life making music, both in rock and blues bands, such as Vukojarac and Stividen and he also played in the world tours with Goran Karan's band.

„My life choices are music and art, but not overly molded/commercial, but the other one that would like to 'fix things'. I don't need any special motivation, I just hope I'm doing it OK, for general well-being and my motives are not material ones“, Vučković adds.

As for the audience, it depends on the performer. Considering that the band who was performing at the opening of the festival sing in Croatian, the audience was mostly local. The next day, when the Pink Panther Band was performing, with the repertoire of world hits, 75% of the audience were tourists.

„Last year's edition of EVO RUKE! festival was visited by approximately 220,000 people and the ratio was fifty-fifty. But it's all inaccurate because I'm not dealing with counting, but looking to push the quality to the top“, Vučković says.

Considering the current situation with the coronavirus, the festival has adapted to the measures and recommendations of the Croatian Institute for Public Health.

The number of visitors is limited to 1,000, with maximum respect for physical distance, hand disinfection and other necessary measures to combat the spread of the virus.

„In the first place is the health and safety of visitors, and the further issues is how to achieve the audience-performer interaction and that indescribable energy and love for which we come to watch live concerts. But this is a problem that all artists/performers in the world currently have. We mobilized to the maximum to make visitors feel comfortable as possible, as if there is no epidemic“, Vučković concludes.

The program for this years' edition of EVO RUKE! festival can be found below.

• FRI 07.08. ATOMSKO SKLONIŠTE
• SAT 08.08. PINK PANTHER BAND
• SUN 09.08. LITTLE SISTER
• MON 10.08. ELENA STELLA & A. J. JAZZ TRIO
• TUE  11.08. GOODIES
• WED 12.08. HARPOON BLUES BAND
• THU 13.08. THE FOGSELLERS ŠIBENIK
• FRI 14.08. THE SPLITTERS
• FRI 14.08. OSMI PUTNIK
• SAT 15.08. DREAMERS BAND
• SUN 16.08. MEDIJ
• SUN 16.08. NOPLING
• MON 17.08. NOA
• TUE 18.08. MIND ZOO
• TUE 18.08. LAST MAN STANDING
• WED 19.08. EKSJUROK
• THU 20.08. FRANCESCO & SOUTHERN COOKING
• FRI 21.08. TEŠKA ODLUKA
• SAT 22.08. NOLA
• SUN  23.08. CIMA & CO
• MON 24.08. ROCKY ROAD
• MON 24.08. IN ROOTS
• TUE 25.08. AFTERFIRE BAND
• WED 26.08. TRIO TRABACOOL
• THU 27.08. BRAVO BAND SPLIT
• FRI 28.08. 3. SPLIT OPEN JAZZ FAIR
• SAT 29.08. 3. SPLIT OPEN JAZZ FAIR
• SUN 30.08. ZLATNI GRGUR 2020.
• MON 31.08. RIFFOVSKI
• MON 31.08. GO LILLY
• TUE 01.09. TRIO BRODARIĆI
• WED 02.09. COMING SOON
• THU 03.09. JEREMIAH'S - SV. FILIP I JAKOV
• FRI 04.09. 10. SPLIT BLUES FESTIVAL - IN MEMORIAM JADRAN ZLODRE
• SAT 05.09. 10. SPLIT BLUES FESTIVAL - IN MEMORIAM JADRAN ZLODRE
• SUN 06.09. TBF

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

August 10, 2020 - A Lokomotiva footballer has tested positive for coronavirus, whose name has not been released. The club issued a statement on Sunday evening. 

"A Lokomotiva player who returned to Zagreb with a fever after a five-day break was tested for COVID-19 and the result was positive. According to the Personal Data Protection Act (GDPR), we are unable to disclose the identity of an infected person. The competent epidemiological service was immediately notified, which imposed a measure of strict self-isolation on the player, all following the recommendations of the Croatian Civil Protection Headquarters and the HNS working group," Lokomotiva said.

This is the first case of coronavirus infection in the HNL, reports Index.hr.

"Even though the player was not in contact with the players of the first team after returning from vacation, intensified supervision will be carried out in the next period, and they will react promptly based on the epidemiological situation. In the coming period, the first team will train in strict conditions, without the use of locker rooms, with regular temperature measurements in accordance with the protocols of UEFA and HNS. The players and the professional staff will be tested for COVID-19 during the week, and on two more occasions before the match of the 2nd qualifying round for the Champions League, in accordance with UEFA protocol.

The rest of the team, according to the instructions of the epidemiological service, does not have to go into self-isolation, but all activities in the club will be held under stricter protection measures. The competent epidemiologist estimated that there were no elements of additional risk for the club, but the Working Group for the return of HNS competition recommended increased supervision and additional hygienic and epidemiological measures," reads the statement published by Lokomotiva on its website.

Lokomotiva will continue its preparations for the upcoming season, but under special protection measures. The training match in Karlovac, which was supposed to take place on Monday night, was canceled, as well as the trip to Mreznica, to the hotel-restaurant Mirni kut in Zvecaj, where the team was supposed to stay until Wednesday. All training will be held at Kajzerica.

For now, there is no danger that UEFA will expel Lokomotiva from the qualifications for the Champions League because of this case. UEFA can, however, apply rigorous measures to a certain club in case that club does not have 13 healthy players.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

August 10, 2020 - Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic has asked the National Civil Protection Headquarters to change the rule banning the entry of ships with more than two hundred passengers into Croatian ports.

Slobodna Dalmacija reports that this is because the global cruise line MSC did not include Dubrovnik in its cruise program.

Namely, representatives of the company have previously expressed interest in including Dubrovnik in the travel program, but the limiting factor for the arrival of larger ships on cruises to Dubrovnik is the rule, according to which ships with more than 200 passengers cannot enter Croatian ports at the moment.

Frankovic briefed Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the National Civil Protection Headquarters Davor Bozinovic and Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butkovic on this very topic.

Following Bozinovic's instructions, Frankovic submitted to the County Institute of Public Health detailed procedures introduced by the MSC for its ships, as well as procedures to be carried out by the Dubrovnik Port Authority and the City of Dubrovnik.

"In the coming days, we expect an official statement from the Institute to the Civil Protection Headquarters and we are convinced that with the approved procedures, ships on cruise trips will be allowed to enter Croatian ports," said Mayor Frankovic.

The prescribed procedures are a challenge for both companies and Port Authorities and the cities where cruise companies enter, but they provide the highest level of health care, and the possibility of spreading the COVID-19 infection is reduced to a minimum, the Dubrovnik City Administration said in a statement.

MSC is one of the world's largest cruise companies and a market leader in Europe.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

August the 9th, 2020 - Many foreigners are quick to compliment the mostly excellent Croatian roads and motorways, but just how good are the tunnels? The Germans tested several, and while a couple got the green light, one heavily used Croatian tunnel didn't do quite so well...

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of August, 2020, a study by the ADAC, a well known German car club, published an assessment of the safety of some European tunnels, and one Croatian tunnel unfortunately got a red mark next to it. The Ucka Tunnel was the one to receive the unflattering German review via an assessment according to which it doesn't meet the proper safety standards.

The ADAC has investigated the safety of sixteen Austrian, Italian and Croatian tunnels, mostly those through which most German tourists go when driving to their holiday destinations in the aforementioned countries. Of the Croatian tunnels, Konjsko, located on the A1 road, as well as Sveta Tri Kralja on the A2 section, were also explored and they each received a green mark, which means that they meet all of the necessary safety requirements, and it was stated that everything was fine with them, according to a report from Vecernji list.

All of the Italian tunnels received a red mark, while all of the Austrian tunnels received green marks. As for the Croatian tunnel ''in the red'', the Ucka Tunnel, the disadvantage is that it has only one pipe. A big complaint is that there are no emergency exits in this particular Croatian tunnel, nor are there any speakers or external entrances for rescuers. It has been noted that it is confusing for drivers that the number of lanes in front of and within the tunnel itself is not the same, and it has been deemed that all this reduces the general level of safety while driving through the tunnel.

Of the sixteen European tunnels inspected, more than half have failed to meet the minimum standards set by the European Union. While Austria has adequately restored its tunnels, the Italian tunnels give the impression of insecurity according to the car club.

For more, follow our lifestyle page.