ZAGREB, June 13, 2020 - The leader of the conservative Bridge party, Bozo Petrov, on Saturday presented lead candidates for the July 5 parliamentary election, saying that these were the people fighting for a different Croatia than the one offered by those who have been running the country for the past 30 years.

"We will fight for a Croatia in which everyone is entitled to a decent life and has equal rights because no one should be more equal than the others," said Petrov, who will head the party's slate in Constituency 10 which covers a southern part of Split-Dalmatia County and the whole of Dubrovnik-Neretva County.

Petrov said that the number of seats won was not as important as the quality and integrity of people entering Parliament, adding that MPs should always have in mind the people they were elected to represent. "Quite a few of them, as we have seen in the last 30 years, forget this and lose their bearings," he noted.

Petrov said that the lists of candidates would be submitted to the Electoral Commission on Tuesday.

ZAGREB, June 13, 2020 - Robert Pauletic of the Homeland Movement said on Saturday that the party's condition for a possible coalition with the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was that Andrej Plenkovic should no longer be the prime minister.

"(Homeland Movement leader) Miroslav Skoro has already announced this saying that Plenkovic could be a good foreign minister but not the prime minister," Pauletic told the N1 television channel.

He added that Plenkovic's ego probably would not allow him to be relegated from the position of the prime minister to that of foreign minister. "He has saved his premiership several times, but he can't do it anymore."

"If the SDP (Social Democratic Party) emerges as a relative winner, will it agree to Plenkovic being the prime minister? A grand coalition is possible and I wouldn't rule out that possibility. Plenkovic is politically closer to the left than to the Homeland Movement," Pauletic said, adding that Plenkovic proved this by forming a coalition with the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) and the Croatian People's Party (HNS).

Asked if the next prime minister should be a non-party person or the Homeland Movement would insist on its own candidate, Pauletic said they first needed to see how many parliamentary seats they would win.

As for a possible coalition between the Homeland Movement and the SDP, he said that it was highly unlikely because of their ideological differences. He added that a coalition with the SDSS was also unacceptable because "Milorad Pupovac has been sucking money out of the state budget for decades" and his weekly Novosti is anti-Croatian.

As Lucija Spiljak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of June, 2020, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a number of Croatian companies and employers have applied for government aid to preserve jobs in coronavirus-affected activities.

The aid, which comes as part of a special government measure, is intended for sectors whose business cannot be opened for objective reasons and for those which have experienced a (proven) decline of more than 50 percent, which relates to the terms of extended aid for June (it was previously intended solely for March, April and May, when it referred to a decline of more than 20 percent), given that the planned support was for three months - March in the amount of 3250 kuna and for April and May in the amount of 4000 kuna.

However, Croatian economic activity has been disrupted in the vast majority of industries, so the Croatian Employment Service's Board of Directors introduced a form of job preservation support for the month of June this year and amended the criteria for May 2020. For June, Croatian companies and other beneficiaries must submit a new application via the online application by June the 30th, although they'll have already used the aid, and the amount of the subsidy will be 4000 kuna.

According to the CES, the deadline for the payment of this support is the 20th of the month for the previous month, and in the case of Croatian employers having hired new employees in the meantime, no further government support can be requested for them.

According to the data received from the CES, by June the 6th this year, more than two billion kuna in support had been paid out for 98,432 employers and 526,876 workers in April. However, many Croatian companies complained that the requested funds, which were granted to them, arrived late, and out of a total of 113,396 received applications for support, a total of 6508 applications were rejected by the same date throughout the whole of Croatia.

The reason for the refusal is listed as the non-compliance with the defined conditions and criteria.

"Although the deadline for the payment of support to beneficiaries for the previous month is the 15th of the month, due to the large amount of data and delays in submitting documentation in some cases, the control process takes longer than what was originally planned and therefore the payments are arriving more slowly than we expected. Namely, given that the condition for the continuation of the payment of support is the delivery of proof of payment of employee salaries for the previous month for all workers for whom the support was paid out, the Institute conducts detailed controls by matching data with the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute and the Tax Administration,'' they claim from the CES.

To briefly recall, the target groups of Croatian companies and employers eligible for the payment of this support are employers in the sectors of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, transport and storage, accommodation and food and beverage service activities, administrative and support service activities, organisers of various public events and ancillary activities such as companies who deal with equipment rental, audio and video recording, ticket sales, hall rental, along with other companies that generate most of their revenue from events and public gatherings.

The CES also lists Croatian companies, crafts, family farms and natural persons who are independent contractors and self employed individuals as eligible business entities. The CES also reports that they are continuously monitoring the situation on the domestic labour market along with the Ministry of Labour, on the basis of which the need to extend the implementation of this particular economic measure will be further considered.

Given the fact that Croatian companies have stabilised their operations with the easing of the formerly stringent anti-epidemic measures, some have decided to repay the financial aid they received from the government for three months - 973 Croatian companies have made that choice.

There is a brewing problem among Croatian companies and employers who have applied for benefits, had them granted, but have not paid their employees their salaries.

The list from the Tax Administration includes a total of 1237 Croatian companies/employers - of which 1185 are legal entities and the rest of 53 are obrtnici (owners of crafts), who haven't paid out employee salaries for a total of 2310 workers they employ.

This concerning data on the literal non-payment of wages is based on submitted JOPPD forms in which employers reported the non-payment of wages for the period from January to March this year. The first list of non-payers of salaries was published by the Tax Administration way back on July the 15th, 2014, and it included 5,619 legal entities that hadn't paid salaries to 19,449 workers during the first quarter of 2014.

The conclusion is that since 2014, since the lists of non-payers were published, the number of non-payers has decreased by almost five times, and the number of non-payers for only one worker (probably the owner of the entity paying themselves) has increased. Worryingly, tsix activities that are on the list of non-payers are also in the top eleven activities that received the largest payments of government aid for the month of March.

For more, follow our business page.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Bernard Ivezic writes on the 13th of June, 2020, the very first Croatian VC fund, the Feelsgood Social Impact Investment Fund, has received the final green light to start working and can start things up as far as investments are concerned. The domestic startup fund, worth 30 million euros or a little less than a quarter of a billion kuna, has been collecting all the necessary permits for three years now.

Not only will the first Croatian VC fund help startups and their innovations with capital, but it has also become an innovation on the domestic financial market. The Croatian VC fund is also the first domestic "social impact" fund. The VC fund project was first given the green light back in March last year by the European Investment Fund. Then, at the beginning of August 2019, Hanfa approved the work of the Zagreb company Feelsgood Capital Partners, and now it has allowed it to establish the Croatian VC fund itself.

Renata Brkic, co-founder of the fund, says that the process was demanding, but that they are very satisfied with the result.

''The process was extremely demanding, but we're proud because the Croatian team managed to establish both a fund and a management company in their own country.

"We're extremely proud that we managed to establish a fund and a management company in our country as a Croatian team," says Brkic. In addition to Brkic, who is the High Commissioner of the World Business Angel Investment Forum (WBAF) for Croatia, the first Croatian VC fund will be managed by four other managers who are also the fund's co-founders.

Srdja Ivekovic, a VC fund manager with many years of experience in the industry in the markets of the Middle East, Egypt and the CIS, Dinko Novoselac, the former CEO of the largest pension fund in Croatia, AZ, and Peter-Pierre Matek, the former President of the Hanfa.

The fifth partner in the company and the fund is Tilen Sarlah, a financier from Slovenia, who also runs a trading board in Ljubljana's Geoplin and is an advisor in the startup Fintech Factory EU.

Renata Brkic says that they went through a complex process of coordination with the main investor, EIF, and the national regulator Hanfa.

"We hope that with this pioneering endeavor, we've encouraged others and paved the way for teams that think in the same way we do, and contributed to Croatia positioning itself one step higher in the European financial industry," says Brkic.

22.7 million kuna or 3 million euros will be the largest investment that the Croatian VC fund will be able to make according to the decision on the matter made by Hanfa. It should be noted that they are also ready to take their first step which comes in the shape of a sensitive topic in Croatia - investments.

Brkic states that in parallel with the process of designing the first Croatian VC fund and its main strategy, they held talks not only with potential investors in the fund but also with startups and other entrepreneurs whose projects are candidates for investment.

''Since we announced our intention to establish the Feelsgood fund at our conference on social impact investing in Zagreb last October, we've been contacted by numerous entrepreneurial teams from Croatia and Slovenia with the desire to present their projects, and we're now in a position to start talking concretely,'' says Brkic. She hasn't provided any details on that yet, however, she did point out that the most important thing is that the entrepreneurial scene is alive and kicking here in Croatia and that teams are thinking about how to achieve a positive social effect in addition to making profit.

Feelsgood is a Croatian VC fund that invests in startups here at home in Croatia. Five years ago, the VC fund South Central Ventures, worth a massive 40 million euros, started operating. Although it was entirely realised abroad, it is the very first VC fund with an office in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb.

It is also the first in which the Republic of Croatia has actually invested. Fil Rouge Capital, which is currently the largest VC fund in Croatia worth 45 million euros, also took a step forward last year. HBOR entered it as an investor, meaning that once again, such a promising step was taken here in the Republic of Croatia. Fil Rouge is also the first VC fund to invest exclusively in startups registered in Croatia.

Feelsgood, the third in a row, is the first to be fully incorporated in Croatia, meaning that it is the first VC fund that can be decorated with the title "100% Made in Croatia". As Hanfa's decision revealed, Feelsgood will invest in startups in Croatia and Slovenia. Although it will be open to all social SMEs, it will still be the most sought after instrument for startups or companies in their very early stages of development.

For more, follow Made in Croatia.

As Novac writes on the 12th of June, 2020, when panic broke out over the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Croatian Government and more specifically the Minister of Finance found themselves in the most difficult situation imaginable: an incalculable abyss opened up in the budget and in just a few days, the good fiscal results that had been worked on for years were quite simply kicked to the dust and erased by the consequences of the virus.

However, if we can even dare to begin talking about a V-shaped recovery at this moment in time, then the closest to it is fiscal policy. Minister Zdravko Maric first reported that revenues in May were about 50 percent lower than they were during the same month last year, which is an enormous and concerning drop, but it was still much smaller than what was originally expected - a drop of up to 70 percent was expected. Further improvement is expected in June. Then came the positive reports from various credit rating agencies, and finally, very successful borrowing on the international capital market began.

On Wednesday, the finance ministry issued two billion euros worth of bonds for a period of eleven years and an interest rate of 1.5 percent (a yield of 1,643 percent), which is "as much as 45 basis points lower than the initially announced price."

The interest of the investment community, they say from the Ministry of Finance, "was exceptional", about 400 investors came forward, including those who invest exclusively in investment credit rating bonds. Their demand was 8.45 billion euros, about 4.2 times the nominal amount of the issue.

Financial analyst Andrej Grubisic says that Minister Maric is just doing his job, and he expects nothing but good results from him because he has been in the Ministry of Finance for years "and belongs to the category of the best to have done that job".

Although he doesn't dispute his expertise and the results achieved by the Croatian Government, and once again with an emphasis precisely on Zdravko Maric, he points out that the circumstances also helped him out a little. This, above all, refers to the large inflow of money which results in low interest rates. However, it also carries a certain danger that a large amount of money in circulation will raise inflation.

The Ministry of Finance plans to use this borrowed money to refinance the 1.25 billion US dollar bond, which matures in mid-July this year and was issued back in 2010 at a price of 6.625 percent. This also means that the new indebtedness brings budget savings of around 360 million kuna for the Croatian Government. The remaining 750 million US dollars, according to the Treasury, "will be used to fund measures to help the economy affected by the coronavirus pandemic, as envisaged in the amendments to the state budget for this year."

With the latest borrowing on the international market, the Ministry of Finance has largely solved this year's financial needs of the budget, which, due to the coronavirus pandemic, increased from 30.5 billion kuna to a massive 63.4 billion kuna. With the budget revision back in May, the Croatian Government has significantly reduced expected budget revenues this year (by around fifteen per cent) and it expects a general government deficit of 6.8 percent of GDP, after last year’s surplus of 0.4 percent.

Agencies that have assessed Croatia's creditworthiness in recent weeks expect that the situation could return to the much talked about Maastricht framework as soon as next year, with a budget deficit of 2.7 percent of GDP. As a positive aspect of the fiscal situation, Fitch states that the needs for the financing of the budget in the medium term are moderate, given that the extended maturity of bonds is close to six years, and it assesses that "debt management is prudent".

An additional mitigating circumstance in the coming years should be favourable financing conditions and less need for borrowing on the market, as Croatia could become one of the biggest winners of the European aid programme, which regards around 10 billion euros in the period from 2021 to 2027, with 7.3 billion euros set aside for grants.

For more, follow our lifestyle page.

Could June bring the reactivation of at least part of the enfeebled Croatian economy with it, along with some warm weather? Statistics, although cold, provide a glimmer of hope.

As Novac writes on the 12th of June, 2020, the seven-year recovery period for the European Union's labour market has been abruptly stopped in its tracks by the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and unemployment has risen in almost all member states.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for most EU27 members rose back in March, but at the level of the EU27 average itself, it remained the same as in the previous month (6.4 percent), which was also the lowest rate in twelve entire years. The unemployment rate continued to fall and was 98,000 lower in March than it was in February.

In April, the disruption was stronger due to the month-long economic ''closure'' of almost all EU member states, and the total number of unemployed people rose by 398,000 to a concerning 14.1 million. The unemployment rate rose in all member states except Italy and Denmark, which resulted in an increase in the rate at the EU27's level to 6.6 percent.

However, compared to the same month last year, both the number of unemployed people and the unemployment rate across the EU27 remained lower than it was in April, although only a few member states had a lower rate - Denmark, Poland, Portugal and Finland.

The highest rate decline was recorded in Italy (by 3.9 percentage points), which had a strong impact on the EU27 average. However, the decline in the unemployment rate in Italy was based on a sharp decline in the participation rate, rather than on employment growth itself. Namely, Italy, due to its sheer size, significantly affects the EU average. The unemployment rate there fell in both March and April, but with a simultaneous reduction in the number of employees and a sharp decline in labour market participation by more than three percentage points.

The drop in the participation rate is a result of the fact that a significant number of people postponed active job searches due to the terrible Italian epidemiological situation, so they were recorded as inactive during these two crisis months and not actually as unemployed, which means that unemployment growth was probably postponed a little.

According to these Eurostat statistics, Croatia was the third largest member state when it comes to the highest employment growth during the first quarter, but it was also among the member states in which the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose in March, it was also among those where it rose sharply in March and April (in March by 0.6 percentage points, and in April by 1.3 percentage points).

Thus, the Croatian economy managed to gain a slightly worse position in the EU27 during the crisis months of March and April - in April it had the seventh highest rate, while just before the start of the pandemic (in February) it had the tenth highest rate in the EU27. As such, it moved away from the EU27 average, to which it was very close last year and at the beginning of this year.

Although the positive developments on the EU's labour market were interrupted in these extraordinary circumstances caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, this increase in unemployment in the most critical months so far was actually below expectations. Namely, it can be concluded that the measures taken by EU member states, which were mostly mostly focused on job retention, significantly mitigated the growth of unemployment.

Namely, the unemployment rate was expected to exceed 8 percent in April, and it was still kept at a lower level of 6.6 percent (although this was partly a reflection of the decrease in labour market participation, which affected the decrease in the number of registered unemployed people).

At the same time, when labour market developments across the EU are compared with those across the Atlantic in the US, a huge difference can be easily seen, which can still be attributed to the effects of the measures taken by countries since March.

Across the pond in the USA, which didn't focus its measures on preserving jobs, the unemployment rate rose by 0.9 percentage points in March, and by a shocking 10.3 percentage points in April, to the highest level (14.7 percent) since the devastating Great Depression. However, positive changes were visible in May, with the rate falling to 13.3 percent, the number of unemployed decreased by more than 2 million (to 20.98 million), and the number of employees increased by 3.8 million (to 137.2 million).

Administrative data on unemployment in Croatia currently shows a good short-term trend given the dire circumstances. Namely, the number of unemployed people on June the 10th, 2020, stood at 153,467, which was 4,372 less than at the end of May and 5,767 less than at the end of April.

As the trends changed after the introduction of the wage subsidy of 4,000 kuna, it should be expected that unemployment will move until the implementation of the government-introduced measures comes to an end.

Data for the first ten days of June provide a much needed glimmer of hope that the reactivation of the Croatian economy may come more quickly than was previously expected, because in those ten days of June - 8,842 people from the Croatian Employment Service's records were stated as being employed (mostly in tourism, trade and manufacturing), which is at the level of 89 percent of employees throughout May.

Since Croatia has already opened its borders to its most important emitting tourist markets, and Germany and Austria are expected to lift their respective travel restrictions from the 15th of June, it would be fair to expect this to have an immediate positive impact on Croatian tourism and then indirectly on the Croatian economy and as such, on the labour market.

For more on the Croatian economy, follow our business page.

June 13, 2020 - Tourism has been on hold, but most of us have plenty of time. So let's look at the virtual resources available to explore Croatia virtually. We continue our new Virtual Croatia series with the tools to discover Lumbarda on Korcula.

A few weeks ago I wrote that being a tourism blogger in the corona era was about as useful as being a cocktail barman in Saudi Arabia. I feel less useless now, a few weeks later, and I am encouraged by the number of Croatian tourism businesses who are contacting us wanting to start thinking of promoting post-corona tourism. 

One of the challenges of writing about tourism at the moment is that there is nothing positive to write about. With people confined to their homes and tourism in Croatia currently not possible, many have decided to go into hibernation until it is all over. 

I think that this is a mistake, and I have greatly enjoyed the TCN series by Zoran Pejovic of Paradox Hospitality on thinking ahead to tourism in a post-corona world.  You can find Zoran's articles here.

Way back on March 14 - several lifetimes ago - I published an article called Tourism in the Corona Age: 10 Virtual Ways to Discover Zagreb. The way I saw things, now was an OUTSTANDING opportunity for tourism promotion. People have time, they yearn for their freedom and former lives, so give them the tools to thoroughly research and enjoy your destinations, and you will have then longing to be there. And when they do come, they will have a deeper understanding of the destination due to their research. 

South Africa and Portugal were the first to do their post-corona tourism promotion videos several weeks ago (Post-Corona Tourism Planning: Lessons from South Africa and Portugal), a trick which has been followed by other tourism countries, the latest being Croatia with the national tourist board campaign, #CroatiaLongDistanceLove, going live yesterday.

But while these campaigns create longing and market presence, they don't really educate. People now have time to really get into destinations. And dreams of escape to somewhere more exotic are high on the list of priorities of many. 

So TCN has decided to help with that education with a new series called Virtual Croatia, where we will be helping you discover many of Croatia's destinations with all the best virtual tools available on your self-isolating sofa at home. 

We started last week with Tourism in the Corona Age: 10 Virtual Tools to Discover Hvar.

After this, we put our a press release (which you can read here in English and Croatian) offering a free article to any local tourist board in Croatia who would like the free promotion in our Virtual Croatia series. 

The Sinj Tourist Board was the first to respond, and now you can see just how rich the tourism offer is in this proud Alka town - your virtual tools to Discover Sinj. This was followed by DIscover Opatija, Discover Brela, Discover Rogoznica, Discover Klis, Discover Trogir, Discover Omis, and Discover Stari Grad.

Next up, Ante Šestanović from the Lumbarda Tourist Board, who sent me some virtual tools to help us discover Lumbarda. 

Let's begin! 

Welcome to Lumbarda, Home to Thousands of Years of History and Beauty

Lumbarda, a small settlement on the south-western coast of the island of Korcula, is one of the true idyllic gems on the Adriatic. Winner of the prestigious 2019 Vecernji List Tourist Patrol award, Lumbarda is far more than just a sun and sea destination, and its history and wine story is truly unique. 

In 1877 Božo Kršinić, a local Lumbardian, found on top of a small hill called Koludrt, the Psephisma of Lumbarda. Dating from 3rd or 4th century BC this inscription carved into a stone pillar, provided details about a Greek colony living in Lumbarda who originated from the island of Issa, today’s Vis Island. The Psephisma includes the names of 200 Greek families and the agreement between themselves and the Illyrians who had already settled in the area. It contractual agreed terms for the establishment of the new colony by the Greeks and the division of land. As one of the earliest discovered documents in Croatia, it provides valuable information about the Greek colonists, as well as the democratic way the people divided the land and harmoniously lived side by side. Learn more in the Story Behind the Logo. 

Now get to know the beauty of Lumbarda through various promotional videos.

A tranquil destination of sun, sea, beach and chilled lifestyle. 

An oasis of calm, where you can escape the pressures of the modern world.

A great escape for an active holiday, or a lazy one at the beach.

Lumbarda from the Air

We live in the era of the drone, one more tool to show the magnificence of Lumbarda from the air. 

Discover Lumbarda and Its Wine Champion - Grk

Korcula is a great wine island, famous mostly for its Posip, but also for a very sought-after white wine variety which only grows on the sandy soil of Lumbarda - Grk. There are only about 33,000 bottles a year made, but it is one of the premier white wines of Croatia. One of my favourite (and true) stories about Croatia happened several years ago, when one of the powerful Kennedy family from the USA tasted Grk in a top Dubrovnik hotel. The next day they were on a yacht to Korcula, met the winemaker and tasted his range. They ordered two pallets of Grk. 

"I am sorry," replied the winemaker, but we have a policy of selling just two bottles per customer, as we only have a limited supply."

"Don't you know who I am? I am a Kennedy, and I would like two pallets."

"I do indeed, Sir, but I am Mr. Grk. Two bottles only."

The Beaches of Lumbarda

Lumbarda has great beaches. If anyone has better videos on YouTube, please send me the links, and I will update. The city beach. 

The kids beach.

An Active Lumbarda Holiday

Laze on the beach, or get active. Sailing the Dalmatian islands is a popular way to relax on an Adriatic holiday. Meet the Lumbarda marina.  

Kayaking has grown in popularity in Dalmatia in recent years, a popular activity in Lumbarda. 

Why not try a buggy safari for something a little different? 

Or some coast hiking, perhaps?

The island of Korcula is a great cycling destination, and Lumbarda is a key part of that. 

Traditional Lumbarda, a Destination of Klapa, Folklore, Fishermen's Nights & Donkey Racing 

It may be a small destination, but Lumbarda maintains plenty of traditions, including the popular Fishermen's Nights.

And where would Dalmatia be without that romantic traditional singing - met Klapa Korda.

There are also regular displays of Lumbarda traditional folklore.

And don't miss the epic Lumbarda donkey races. 

And, for something equally romantic at night, sky lanterns. 

Lumbarda as It Once Was (1970) 

Step back in time. Lumbarda as It Once Was, some 50 years ago.  

Rick Stein and BBC Discovers the Gourmet Secrets of Lumbarda

And the secret is slowly getting out. Rick Stein and the BBC were delighted with the gourmet treasures of Lumbarda, where they filmed for a series on the BBC back in 2016. 

Timelapse Lumbarda

Enjoy the magnificence of Lumbarda through timelapse, both the centre and the beach. 

Official Lumbarda Tourist Board Website

Discover Lumbarda via the official tourist board website.

THIS. IS. LUMBARDA. When can we expect your visit? 

To discover more of virtual Croatia, you can follow this series in our dedicated section, Virtual Croatia. 

If you are a local tourist board in Croatia and would like your destination featured in this series for free, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Subject Virtual Croatia (and destination name)

June 13, 2020 - Are restaurants open on Hvar? A blissful return to the 'old normal' at Me and Mrs Jones in Jelsa.  

I had a meeting with Deni Ohlsen-Dukic, General Manager of Hvar's only 5-star hotel, Leading Hotels of the World member, Palace Elisabeth hvar heritage hotel in Hvar Town. We had met only briefly at the hotel opening in October and had been meaning to catch up for an extended interview. Deni kindly agreed to come to see me in Jelsa, which immediately gave me a problem; I knew he was a big foodie, so what was actually open to impress him?

Jelsa's fine dining restaurant Artichoke is still not open for the season, so I wandered around the other side of the harbour to see if Me and Mrs Jones might be working. Although the door was closed, I heard voices inside and then saw the welcoming smile of owner Josipa Belic Skarpa. Were they open? If someone wanted to eat, they were open. These must be very strange times for restaurateurs, not knowing if there will be guests or not. I booked a table for four. 

And then the next few hours (and it was a few) passed by like a dream, a reminder of the carefree summers of a previous life. The waterfront terrace at Me and Mrs Jones looks across the harbour to the old town, and we enjoyed the lone sailboat gliding gracefully into the harbour in the tranquil afternoon sun.  

And where else to start than with the signature Me and Mrs Jones octopus salad?  

I was too relaxed to record the main dishes, but a wonderful dessert to finish.  

The food and the service were outstanding as always, but what captivated us as well was the view, the calm waters of Jelsa harbour.  

Then it was the turn of the Jelsa rowing club, located at the other side of the harbour, to engage in their daily practice.  

Restaurant views of European harbours - does it get any better than this?  

My phone rang. Some foodie friends in Stari Grad. Did I know of any good restaurants on the island which are actually open. 

"Come to Jones in Jelsa."

"Jones is open? Great."

And so they came, as did many others. A full house at Me and Mrs Jones, and a reminder that glimpses of the old normal are possible.  

Jelsa is divine at the moment, as is the whole island. Regarding restaurants open on the island, there are a handful in Jelsa and Stari Grad, and Hvar Town has six currently (including Alviz, Jerolim, Hotel Riva, MIzarola) but many more will open this week.

Learn more about magical Hvar from our Virtual Croatia series.