The recently opened Lifestyle Hotel Vitar, located in Bol on the island of Brač is constantly being noticed and given awards and compliments for its interior design. So, these days, Studio UP which worked on the Vitar's design is among the finalists for the yearly award by the Association of the Croatian Architects for this project. 

The four-star lifestyle hotel Vitar is located right at the entrance to Bol, a place well-known for its amazing Zlatni Rat beach, and a popular destination for beach-goers, surfers and divers. It has 25 rooms on 4 floors, and several small gyms on different spots within the hotel.

Lea Pelivan and Tom Plejić, head architects that worked on the project explained to Jutarnji list that the name "Vitar" is logical for a famous surfer destination (vitar is a local word for wind). The atmosphere in the hotel is also surfer-inspired, and during their stay, the guests are aware of the dynamics in the space created by moving elements of the design. They weren't working on the project since the start, but when they took over, they needed to change the entire interior design to make the hotel become a cool and laid-back place.

There's a top chef working at the hotel, Mario Čepek, so that aspect of the hotel experience is also highest quality. The view from the hotel's roof to Hvar and Zlatni Rat is breath-taking, and each of the rooms has a view: either of Hvar, southern side of Brač and the channel between the islands or of the Vidova gora mountain on Brač. That's one of the reasons the designers insisted on the beds facing the windows, and not the TV sets in the rooms. The perimeter of the hotel has been turned into an intense mediterranean garden, full of colours, smells and contrasting surfaces.

Through the Maritime and Fisheries Operational Program, the amount of 234.9 million kuna was agreed for 635 users for their projects on seventeen islands in Croatia, while the amount of 176.7 million kuna was paid to as many as 570 beneficiaries.

As Morski writes on the 8th of March, 2019, the largest amount of beneficiaries of contracted and paid funds are on the island of Ugljan, where as much as 27 percent of the total contracted funds for beneficiaries on the islands have been contracted. Given the large number of fishermen on the island of Ugljan, particularly in Kali, the measures that have been taken relate to (among other things) health and safety and energy efficiency on fishing vessels, as well as an additional measure aimed at improving the conditions for product placement on the market, thus achieving a higher price for the products themselves.

''Our fishermen, fish farmers and [fish] processors are well acquainted with the opportunities the Operational Program for Maritime and Fisheries provides, and that has also been confirmed by the growth of the available funds [for this sector] over the last two years. Since the beginning of the implementation of the Maritime and Fisheries Operational Program, a total of 42 tenders have been issued to date, of which 34 have been during the mandate of this government. So far, 47.27 percent of the allocation, or 1.2 billion kuna, has been contracted, and almost 600 million kuna has been paid,'' said the minister of agriculture, Tomislav Tolušić.

Investment on the island Brač is set to occur immediately after the investment on Ugljan. On the other fifteen islands, most of the investments have been directed towards fishing and measures related to it, examples of that are Hvar, Dugi Otok and Cres.

There is also investment occurring in the field of energy-efficient heating and cooling systems in construction facilities for fish processing, as opposed to outdated ''classic'' systems (fossil fuel systems). Money will also be pumped into improving business processes by acquiring new IT equipment and more modern business management software.

Within the Croatian Maritime Operational Program for the Programming Period 2014-2020, 348.7 million euro (252.6 million euro from the EU budget and 96.1 million euro from the budget of the Republic of Croatia) have been made available.

These funds are extremely important to Croatia's fishing sector and as such meets their very specific needs over the aforementioned time period. Within the operational program, in cooperation with all interested stakeholders from scientific institutions, local and regional self-government units, state institutions and entities from the fisheries sector, 36 different measures were covered for the entire sector, from sea and freshwater catches and farming, to the processing and eventual marketing of fish products, to producer organisations and FLAGs.

Make sure to stay up to date on fishing in Croatia and much, much more by following our dedicated business page.

Brussels, 18 February 2019 - Today, 26 European islands have officially launched their clean energy transition with the support of the European Commission’s Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat. 

In the first phase, 6 islands, the Aran Islands (Ireland), the Cres-Lošinj archipelago (Croatia), Sifnos (Greece), Culatra (Portugal), Salina (Italy) and La Palma (Spain) will develop and publish their clean energy transition agendas by summer 2019. The other 20 islands will do so by summer 2020.
 
These islands are:

• Hvar, Croatia                

• New Caledonia, France      

• Pantelleria, Italy          

• A Illa de Arousa, Spain

• Brač, Croatia

• Crete, Greece

• Azores, Portugal

• Gotland, Sweden

• Korčula, Croatia

• Samos, Greece

• Ibiza, Spain

• Öland, Sweden

• Kökar, Finland

• Cape Clear, Ireland

• Mallorca, Spain

• Orkney, UK

• Marie-Galante, France

• Favignana, Italy

• Menorca, Spain

• Group of Off-Grid Scottish Islands, UK

Dominique Ristori, Director-General for Energy at the European Commission, said:

“The 26 islands selected display a remarkable potential and enthusiasm for developing strong and lasting multi-stakeholder collaborations around the clean energy transition. By embarking on this path, not only will they become more energy self-reliant and prosperous, but also provide inspiring examples for other islands and Europe as a whole. This in turn will help the EU achieve its ambitious climate and energy targets.”

There are more than 2200 inhabited islands in the EU. Despite having an abundance of renewable sources of energy, such as wind, solar and wave energy, many of them currently depend on expensive fossil fuel imports for their energy supply. The clean energy transition can help islands not only become more self-sufficient and prosperous, but also unlock new employment opportunities in their communities.

The objective of the Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat is to help as many European islands as possible embark on and advance their clean energy transition in a way that includes the whole island and its stakeholders. Based on experience with successful transition processes, the key to success is to involve all levels of governance of the islands - citizens, municipalities, local businesses, universities and schools – as well as relevant stakeholders from the mainland and bring them on board to actively support and shape their own transition. 

Croatian MEP Tonino Picula said: "Islands are becoming more and more visible on the European agenda. The support for 26 islands throughout the Union is an important step in making island communities torchbearers in clean energy transition. This is a first, but an important, step in securing permanent EU assistance to islands. Congratulations to everyone!"

The 26 islands were selected based on their potential for establishing a high-quality transition process with the support of the Secretariat. In order to serve as inspiring examples for as many European islands as possible over the coming years, special attention was paid to including islands covering a broad variety of geographic and contextual conditions.

To learn more about the project and follow progress on its interactive map, click here. 

February 14, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Dubrovnik, Pula, Rijeka, and Brač airport. 

Thanks to the winter cyclone that passed through the Adriatic last night, much of Dalmatia is covered in snow. 

November 11, 2018 - Continuing our look back at the Mediterranean as it once was, a visit to Bol on Brac, home to Croatia's most icon beach and one of its top destinations. Things were a little different 50 years ago... 

A delightful look at one of the jewels of Croatian island tourism half a century ago, out of season on a sunny day in January. 

Zlatni Rat is one of Croatia's popular beaches these days, but how refreshing to see a few lone fishermen ruling the beach as they continue the traditional way of life before the advent of large-scale tourism. 

Delightful Bol in the 1960s - watch the video below.

For more on Bol and the island of Brac, check out the latest TCN coverage on Croatia's tallest island.

Until this weekend, an orienteering race was never held on a Dalmatian island.

One unique school on this central Dalmatian island is of interest for students from across the continent.

ZAGREB, September 30, 2018 - The school of stone masonry in Pućišta on the southern island of Brač, which is known for using ancient Roman hand tools in stone dressing, is receiving an increasing number of queries from foreign countries for student enrolment as it faces a decreasing interest among Croatian students.

''The extended runway enables the beginning of the cooperation with Air Serbia, with whom we've been negotiating for a long time,'' stated Peović.