Almost all major (and local) German online media (Bild.de, Focus.de, Merkur.de, etc.) and the many German language Croatia and Istria themed Facebook groups and forums are bringing a story from one of the most beautiful and romantic towns of the Adriatic coast, Istria’s Rovinj, at the front pages of their travel sections today, April 7,2016. The titles of the articles mostly read “Croatia: Foreigners Pay More than the Domicile Population” (Bild) and are taken from Germany’s national press agency (DPA), who took the story from Istria’s local newspaper Glas Istre.
Cause for the frenzy is a Rovinj cafe owner who charges some 36 Croatian kuna (a little under €5, 3 to 4 times more than the usual price) for a cup of cappuccino at his seaside terrace in the centre of the town and he seems to charge those prices only to foreigners, so far, so stupid. Two peculiar things about the “news” made us wonder.
Derwesten.de (owned by WAZ – Germany’s third largest publisher) opens the story saying: “Once again, Croatia is making itself unpopular with foreign tourists...”, the coverage on the other sites follows a similar logic - if Damir is doing it, everyone else in that strange country must be doing the same. Well, dear colleagues, they are not. The average Croatian cafe, bar, tavern, restaurant, etc. owner is just as honestly trying to rip you off as the one in Germany, Spain, Greece, Egypt, Austria or Cuba; so think (have a look at the prices) before you drink.
All articles, for some reason, close with the information that the average monthly wages in Croatia are €750 (roughly some 150 Roxy Bar Rovinj cappuccinos) and that Istria is very popular with German and Austrian tourist (who can probably afford even more seaside cappuccinos).
Meanwhile, poor Damir isn’t aware of any wrongdoing, he only feels that, if he has to walk 130 metres from his bar to his terrace... someone better pay for it.
We saved the funniest thing about the whole out-of-proportion-blown story for the end. On the not particularly frequently visited Facebook page of the Rovinj establishment in question, the owner brags for having “the cheapest beer in town”, and with 12 kuna for the bottle, he probably does.
