May the 25th, 2023 - A brand new hotel has recently opened in continental Croatia, but this new addition to the Cakovec hotel scene isn't exactly what you might expect. Meet the Cakovec insect hotel, which is now ready to serve its winged and multi-legged guests.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, as part of nature protection week, another Cakovec hotel has come to be. Neither tourists nor tourism workers seeking to fatten up their wallets stand to benefit from it, but nature will. This new hotel is intended for insects and was built together by the students of the School of Economics and the employees of the county public institution 'Medjimurska priroda/Medjimurje nature'. An HRT team followed the construction of the Cakovec insect hotel and found out just why those tiny flying creatures who like to come into our homes and somehow not manage to get back out are being given the five-star treatment.

Antonio Kruselj, a man employed to take care of the local nature, was the first to get to work. Planks, saws, a drill, a stapler and a hotel where solitary bees, ladybugs and other tiny winged creatures will come and stay, was half finished by that point.

"It's bese extremely important," said Bina.

"Considering that we also have occupations that can be connected to nature protection and sustainability, such as florists, agricultural technicians, businessmen, this fits nicely into our programme," said Lea Sprajc, a professor at the local Cakovec Business School.

The new Cakovec insect hotel is still waiting for its new residents in the park near the School of Economics.

"We like to choose such urbanised areas where we humans have reduced biodiversity through our influence, and as such unfortunately reduced their habitats," said Ivana Horvat from the Public Institution for Nature Protection 'Medjimurska priroda'.

"Most children are afraid of insects, some people know that they're useful, but unfortunately they don't do anything about it," said Katja from the 3rd grade, who is currently majoring in floristry.

Maybe people will now finally understand precisely how important insects are for the environment and as such for us all, because incentives can now be obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture for the installation of such habitats for insects in orchards.

We'd like to wish all insects who find themselves staying at the new Cakovec insect hotel a very nice time!

For more, check out our news section.

March 7, 2023 - A business trip to Medjimurje in early March turned out to be a VERY pleasant tourism experience. 

It is the smallest of all the Croatian counties, and the northernmost, nestled next to now borderless Slovenia and Hungary. And despite the fact I lived just a few kilometres from its capital of Cakovec during my time in Varazdin, Medjimurje is the county that I know least well in this fair land. Apart from one quite extraordinary 24 hours there with the Gastronaut legendica Karin Mimica back in 2016 (Read more in Gastronaut Discovers the Mystical Tastes and Traditions of Medjimurje in Northern Croatia), an excellent lunch at Mala Hiza (that horseradish soup was awesome), and a meeting with a web developer, my knowledge of Medjimurje was zero.

My motives for visiting Cakovec had little to do with tourism and more on spending time with a new business partner and defining our relationship.  She suggested I come for a couple of days to chat and have a look around her native territory, a good chance to mix a little business and pleasure, and to see Medjimurje through local eyes. 

And there was a lot to see. As I left some 48 hours later, the dates of May 12-14 and the Urbanovo festival already in my diary, I kicked myself for ignoring this rather fabulous region for so long. 

Although, truth be told, understanding the local dialect took even more servings of gemist than in Varazdin. 

First up, and what a way to start, a business lunch at Mala Hiza, the pioneering restaurant in Medjimurje and the first in the county to make the Michelin Guide. A superbly rustic setting with a very innovative menu including dishes such as horse, there was no way I was missing out on my favourite horseradish soup to start, which lived up to its billing. 

Wandering through central Cakovec that evening was beautiful. A little lonely, as there was almost nobody about, but beautiful. I put some pictures on Facebook to see if there was anyone around who might be interested in showing me around or pointing me in the direction of some hidden gems. It was one of my most popular FB posts of the year, with some 266 likes and a barrage of messages (apologies if I have not got back to you all yet - I will). 

After the statutory Croatian coffee and 12 cigarettes ritual at our morning meeting, it was off to Krizovec to the 'Between Two Waters' visitor centre, a fascinating look at the nature, flora and fauna of this unique region. Medjimurje had once been almost all forest, and its heritage was well documented. The prime oak tree was called Adam, and it took quite a team to fell it - and we would meet Adam over breakfast.

Did you know that there was a protected park on Croatia's northern border which spans five countries? No, nor did I. 

And then I saw a familiar face, recorded for posterity. Mate Horvat, the last gold panner from the gold-panning era on the Drava. You can learn more about that in my 2016 article Aged 94, Meet Croatia's Last Surviving Gold Prospector on the River Drava. 

Do you have any video footage of Mate in action? I asked.

No unfortunately, I don't.

I did, from that amazing Gastronaut trip 7 years ago, which I will be forwarding. 

Medjimurje welcomes everyone. A 5-star hotel for bugs. 

 And I LOVED this. The Chapel of the Fallen Forest, a tribute to trees felled and what became of them. 

It was nice to see that even here, the art of Bench Tourism is alive and well.  

Time for breakfast at Beska in Cakovec, which had a very homey traditional feel - a nice spot to chill.  

And in the courtyard, remnants of Adam the Great Oak Tree, turned railway sleeper.  

I really enjoyed the tour of Cakovec Castle, which was of course dominated by the history of the Zrinski family, but there was SO much local culture and tradition on offer.  Among the many highlights was this extraordinary costume with a traditional mask called Pikac.

When they say that it takes a village, sometimes it really does... 

Time for some liquid refreshment, which came in the form of a recommendation from young Filip, the recently appointed Cakovec Tourist Board  Director, who was among those who contacted me on Facebook. A very cultured young man, we fell into earnest conversation about tourism over beer and cake - the legendary Medjimurksa gibanica, which sometimes is unfortunately translated as Middle Earth Moving Cake. Whatever the translation, it was delicious. 

Not gonna lie, I thought Mamas and Tapas was top, even more so when the owner came over to say hello. He insisted I try this dish on the house - fortune cookies stuffed with pork. 

As all fortune cookies should be. Croatia, why would you live anywhere else?

And rather a nice beer selection, if that is your thing. 

Enough beer had been consumed to take in the random facts of Cakovec. Did I know, for example, that the first Chinese restaurant in Croatia opened in Cakovec, and that David Bowie popped in for a bit to eat after a concert in Budapest en route to his next gig in Zagreb? There is a corner of a foreign field that is forever England...  

Breakfast in Upper Medjimurje looks like this, and if you have a hostess such as Tatjana Hazic, you know you are in trouble. One of the few female winemakers in Croatia, she is also one of the toughest, having completed an Ironman as well as running a rather excellent winery. 

 But how to make such a super overachiever nervous? Simple. Be the first person to ever try her first ever Pusipel, the pride of Medjimurje grape varieties. So special is it that it has its own individual bottle and wine glass. So how was it? See above. 

I loved everything about the Hazic winery - what a cool use of corks! 

And the first wine camp in Croatia! Bring your caravan and start drinking. Each pitch is named after a grape variety.  Please reserve Sauvignon for me - the Hazic Sauvignon is a Decanter medal winner and is awesome.  A small family winery, Tatjana sells all her wine locally. Why look for national distributors when you can open a wine camp and the drinkers come to you? Awesome lady.  

The vines dominate Upper Medjimurje, truly spectacular. 

And where better to take in the view of the whole of Medjimurje, as well as Slovenia and Hungary, than from the top of Madjerka Breg, fabulous out of season, and a cool rural party destination in season.  

If you were surprised that people were gold panning in Medjimurje, how about this for a claim to fame? While the first commercial oil drilling in the United States took place in Drake in 1859, meanwhile in Medjimurje in 1856... 

 I won't pretend it was an easy place to find, but there you are, another slice of Croatian history which is relatively undocumented. 

My two days over and a little food hamper with love from Medjimurje for the way back to Zagreb. 

Overall impressions? This is what I posted on Facebook:

Not gonna lie, my expectations of a trip to Medjimurje in Feb for business were not huge. But what a fab little gem it is. I always prefer to see destinations out of season to see how much substance there is. So grateful to the many locals who reached out, showed me around, and made the 48 hours so magical.

First impressions. This is a land of oil exploration and gold panning, but the real natural treasures it possesses are its nature, traditions and fine food and wine. It feels like a contented independent and self-sufficient country, where hard work and gemist power the daily grind. A land where the small family businesses spanning generations provide the economic wealth and unique stories. I loved it and wil be back soon. If only they could work on making their Croatian more intelligible. And now with Schengen, Slovenia Hungary and Austria on the borderless doorstep. And just over an hour from Zagreb. Why aren't you here?

****

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ZAGREB, 24 July 2022 - The 58th edition of the Porcijunkulovo festival will take place in the northern city of Čakovec from 28 July to 2 August, the organisers announced at a press conference earlier this week.

The festival has evolved from a traditional Franciscan feast of Our Lady of the Angels to become the main summer attraction in this part of Croatia, featuring a diverse programme of cultural, educational, gastronomic and entertainment events.

The festival opens at 7pm on Thursday 28 July with a fireworks display.

May 28, 2022 - Last night, a major storm in northern Croatia affected the areas of Varaždin, Čakovec, and Koprivnica, tearing down trees, public lighting, and flooding streets. The inhabitants of Varaždin, informed in advance, parked their cars in underground garages.

A new storm in the north of the country, the wind in Bukovac uprooted a tree

A strong wind accompanied by heavy rain and pea-sized hail hit the north of Croatia last night after 10 pm, reports Index.hr.

From the field, the worst was in the area of ​​Štrigova, Ludbreg, and again Veliki Bukovac, where a strong wind knocked down a tree near the NK Bukovčan playground. The hail was small, but it was pouring heavily, and the wind was strong and took some parts off the roofs of people trying to protect their homes from the damage caused by hail the size of tennis balls on Wednesday afternoon.

Varaždin residents hid cars in underground garages

In Ludbreg, citizens report that it looked as if "heaven and earth had merged", but so far there is no information about the damage. There was also a hailstorm in Gornji Međimurje, but it is not yet known if anything was damaged.

The people of Varaždin frantically hid their cars in underground garages last night for fear of hail and new damage that many suffered on Wednesday. However, apart from heavy thunder and showers, there are no reports of damage in Varaždin, and fortunately, there was no hail.

Storm in Podravina: Felled trees and lighting, flooded underpasses

The storm hit Koprivnica and the surrounding areas. At around 11:30 pm, a stormy wind and heavy rain, which in some places turned into hail and thunder, ravaged Podravina. The stormy wind destroyed trees all over the city of Koprivnica, and the heavy rain made the road impassable, reports Glas Podravine.

The aforementioned local portal states that the wind not only destroyed the trees, but also public lighting infrastructure. Underpasses, roads, and pavements were also flooded. Emergency services quickly went to the scene and cleared the roads.

The wind broke off parts of many trees and part of the roads were temporarily rendered unusable. Firefighters are still removing fallen trees from the roads. Traffic was suspended until further notice over the Koprivnica underpass, which was also totally flooded. 

In Koprivnica, 16 liters of rain per square meter fell, and in some villages, such as Torčec, even more. Emergency services are on the ground to enable the smooth flow of traffic.

For more news about Croatia, click here.

ZAGREB, 16 March 2022 - Međimurje County has been given the European Cities and Regions of the Future 2022/23 award by one of the most reputable world economic magazines the Financial Times, its fourth such award, among 160 larger or smaller regions and more than 350 cities in the European Union.

County Prefect Matija Posavec, who received the award in Cannes on Tuesday, told a press conference on Wednesday that the award was not a coincidence and that Međimurje has been recognised as one of the most favourable areas for successfully doing business in Europe thanks to a system that connects the economy and education, among other things.

It is an award to a proud Međimurje that combines all those values of our people, who are productive and diligent, Posavec said, underscoring that over the past two years of the coronavirus pandemic, Međimurje's economy continued to grow as it has been over the past 15 years.

Posavec highlighted several examples of a good entrepreneurial environment such as the Technological-Innovation Centre, the Međiurje Energy Agency and the Čakovec Metal Hub as well as the first scientific-research centre that is owned by a county government. He announced the opening of a regional competence centre in the next month.

"Results do not come overnight, but we are always thinking two steps ahead, and today we are thinking about what will happen tomorrow, which is our wish to become a pilot project in our health system and to apply artificial intelligence here too," said Posavec.

The director of the REDEA Public Institute for the Development of Međimurje County, Sandra Polanec Marinović, said that due to COVID-19 it was necessary to adapt to new criteria.

"We also presented those sectors that have the greatest potential for post-pandemic recovery, concentrating on new rapidly-growing sectors such as eMobility, as well as presenting the IT sector and creative industries," she said, recalling the huge municipal investments in business zones.

Business: For more, check out our business section.

January 10, 2022 - On the first day of the second school semester, Čakovec high school teachers dressed up as famous movie and television characters. 

As was well established in the previous weeks and then recently confirmed by the Minister of Education, Radovan Fuchs, school classes would return today to start the second semester of school. Despite the record increase in positive cases of coronavirus, especially after the Christmas and New Year celebrations and in the midst of the omicron variant, the Ministry of Education confirmed that the classes would be given face-to-face throughout the country. Until now, they reported, they had not received any requests from any school to teach virtual classes. This exception would be given to those schools that, due to the omicron variant, had limited staff to teach classes from the classroom.

The news is good for the Ministry itself, which ensures that face-to-face classes are essential to ensure quality education and for the emotional well-being of students, something that surely sounds just as good for teachers and parents. However, we wonder, how do students feel about it?

When it comes to high school students, we imagine that after the Christmas and New Years' break, they wish they were still resting at home. The chilly temperatures in the middle of winter can be a turn-off for getting back to school. However, as eMeđimurje reports, Čakovec high school teachers have come up with a great idea to receive their students in the best way and raise their spirits to face a new school semester.

The teachers of the Josip Slavenski High School in Čakovec came up with an interesting idea and delighted everyone. In an original and funny way, they wished the students a happy return to school after the winter holidays. Teachers from the Čakovec Gymnasium decided to cosplay some of the most famous characters in film and TV series.

''ET still wants to go home, the blonde from Harvard breaks stereotypes, Peaky Blinders spread fear and trepidation... No, don't be afraid, you're not stuck on a holiday binge! Your teachers, disguised as heroes from famous films and series, are waiting for your return. They want to show you that, despite all the challenges they pose to you, they are just people, cheerful, and well-intentioned. Welcome back to school in 2022 and we wish it will be a great year for everyone!'', reads the message for their students.

See below for more of the costumes and characterizations made by Čakovec high school teachers from the Josip Slavenski gymnasium:

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

ZAGREB, 6 Nov 2021 - Darko Zver, the candidate of the Fokus party for the Međimurje County prefect in a snap election, told a news conference in Čakovec that all the Croatian governments "have pushed the issue of ethnic Roma in Međimurje under the rug."

One of the planks of Zver's agenda is to address the problems facing a sizeable Roma community in that part of Croatia.

Zver also criticized parliamentary deputy Veljko Kajtazi, who represents ethnic Roma in the national legislature, over his statements on the topics concerning local Roma members.

If elected, Zver promised "drastic changes" in social welfare benefits, education training, and employment.

He said that the county authorities must financially support training and retraining for the most sought-after occupations.

For more on politics, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 5 Oct, 2021 - In an effort to increase employment of the Roma community in Međimurje, the Justice and Public Administration Ministry has launched a pilot project for Roma mentors, which was presented in Čakovec on Tuesday.

The pilot project is being implemented within a project to improve the protection of human rights and public security through strengthening capacities in probation services. The project is valued at €2.1 million and it is being financed from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.

Part of the funds is earmarked for the employment of six Roma from Međimurje County for a period of 19 months as Roma mentors.

 After attending training, which will be conducted by Czech experts with experience in similar projects, the Roma mentors will provide support to probation offices, the police, employment service, public health institute, state inspectorate and other social welfare and educational institutions.

State-secretary in the Ministry, Josip Salapić, underscored that the project is aimed at totally including the Roma minority in society.

This is the first project of this kind in Croatia, the head of the prison system and probation administration, Jana Špero said.

An advisor in the Interior Ministry, Vladimir Faber, said that a lot is expected from this project.

"It will enable two-way communication between institutions and Roma communities and between institutions themselves," Faber said, adding that the biggest problem in Roma communities is poverty, social exclusion, poor education, crime among minors, which can be changed with mutual communication.

President of the Kali Sara Roma alliance in Croatia,  Suzana Krčmar, underscored that the Roma will always offer their hand and be open to everyone, especially those who are their friends.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 2 Sept 2021 - Memorials honoring Holocaust victims were put up in the northern Croatian towns of Čakovec and Prelog on Wednesday, with Israeli Ambassador Ilan Mor expressing hope that the memorials, called Stolpersteine (stumbling blocks), would prompt young people to ask themselves who those victims were. 

The Stolpersteine placed in the pavement in six locations in Čakovec and two in Prelog commemorate 28 members of the Jewish community and the event was organized by the Jewish community of Čakovec, Čakovec town authorities, the town authorities of Prelog and Međimurje County.

This is an exceptional idea that pays tribute to all families and innocent victims of the Holocaust, Ambassador Mor said, adding that the memory of the victims continued to live in the cities where their names were inscribed in public areas.

The head of the Jewish community in Čakovec, Andrej Pal, said that "certain historical facts falling into oblivion or even being denied contributes to the disappearance of the community that lived and worked in this area and helped develop it."

Pal noted that before World War II 1,200 Jews lived in Međimurje, of whom 700 were killed or went missing during the war.

Međimurje County head Matija Posavec said that with Holocaust remembrance Međimurje was being promoted as a tolerant, open and humane region.

"We have organized The Week of Jewish Culture, the local museum has organized numerous exhibitions, Eva Panich Nahir is an honorary citizen of Čakovec, and the State Archive has restored the Jewish register of births, marriages, and deaths, simply because Jews have left an important mark on Međimurje's economy, culture and overall development," said Posavec.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

August the 25th, 2021 - Numerous continental Croatian cities are hoping to get their hands on European Union (EU) Funds. Koprivnica, Cakovec and Varazdin are all on the hunt for EU cash injections following their recent decision on cooperation.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, this year's Spancirfest not only turned the historic core of Varazdin into a festival stage once again, but also opened the door to cooperation between three continental Croatian cities: Varazdin, Koprivnica and Cakovec, all of which agreed on a joint application for individual European Union projects.

"We've agreed on the models of our future joint cooperation in applying for some EU projects and funds, where each of us is too small to be able to apply on our own,'' said Varazdin Mayor Neven Bosilj, who hosted Cakovec Mayor Ljerka Cividini and their colleague Misel Jaksic from Koprivnica on Monday.

According to Bosilj, these three continental Croatian cities are among the top six in the entire country in terms of employment and are the (probably rather unexpected) drivers of economic activities.

At the same time, these three continental Croatian host the largest traditional events in the country, such as the aforementioned Spancirfest which is held annually in beautiful Varazdin, whose edition this year has been being visited by about 20,000 people a day, Porcijunkulov in Cakovec, and the Koprivnica Renaissance Festival, all of which attract crowds year after year.

"Tourism doesn't solely exist down by the coast. These are the three most important tourist events not only in this part of the country, but in the whole of continental Croatia,'' said Bosilj.

Cividini stressed that they must not miss out on grabbing the opportunity for cooperation on projects that are opening up through the ITU mechanism and other European Union funds.

"Cooperation will take place through the economy, tourism, cultural development. Today, we've shown that we have the will and that we want to do this, and there are a lot of projects," she said.

"I think this is a good trigger for our agricultural production, traditional crafts, cultural development and everything that makes life what it is up here in the north," Jaksic said.

For more on Croatian access to EU funding, follow our dedicated politics section.