After the large amount of ATMs being placed in the city's historic core began to draw complaints from Dubrovnik's residents, the city took action to see the machines removed from the old city, claiming that they deface the appearance of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As Morski writes on the 19th of Augusy, 2019, seven facilities in the historic core of the City of Dubrovnik have been issued fines of as much as 10,000 kuna after the administrative decision was to remove the installed ATMs from the openings of these historic buildings.

After the initial payment deadlines have expired, and if the facilities who have failed to comply do not remove the ATMs from their buildings, a new enforcement order will see them issued with a fine, with an amount twice as high each time (20,000 kuna, then 40,000 kuna, then as much as 80,000 kuna, and so on…) these fines will continue and can even reach a staggering million kuna.

In the meantime, the local authorities in Croatia's southernmost city will seek out and penalise violators by issuing mandatory misdemeanor warrants, in the amount of as much as 10,000 kuna a day for some.

The City of Dubrovnik has made sure to remind us of the fact that users of the Široka street (ulica) premises, who also received an ATM removal order, removed the disputed ATMs themselves before reaching the deadline last week and thus avoided paying such high fines as a punishment.

Amendments which took place and as such allowed the City of Dubrovnik a mandate to ban the installation of ATMs and other such devices on the openings of the buildings located within the city's beautiful historic core, made Dubrovnik the first Croatian city to regulate the issue of ATMs in order to protect UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Recently, we reported on the City of Dubrovnik's apparent victory in its fight against cash machines in its historic core, but did we speak too soon?

As Novac/Filip Pavic writes on the 21st of June, 2019, it seems that the Pearl of the Adriatic's fight against the machines has taken a turn for the worse.

''If anyone tries to remove the cash machines or enter private property without authorisation, Auro Domus will take legal steps to protect its business and the business of its partners, local retailers and tradesmen,'' said Loris Dessardo, the owner of the Croatian company Auro Domus, following the announcement by Dubrovnik's local authorities at the beginning of the week that machines in the historic core of Dubrovnik have to be removed within thirty days.

The conflict between the irritated residents of Dubrovnik and the local government has also got another factor to take into consideration, the Croatian company Auro Domus from Opatija, which has placed more than 400 ATMs throughout the country over the past year, and citizens of certain area's aren't remotely happy.

Dubrovnik's citizens have stood up against the placement of the cash machines, when forty such machines were placed along the old city's famous Stradun, claiming that they violate the identity and view of the city's historic core, but the owner of Auro Domus has insisted that this isn't a valid argument for their removal.

"So, on the one hand, we have measurable benefits for Dubrovnik, its inhabitants and for the economy, and on the other hand, the subjective aesthetic criterion of individuals who don't like what they look like in the city. And now the City Council try to incorporate this aesthetic criterion into its decision?'' Dessardo stated.

Dubrovnik's mayor, Mato Franković, did just that.

On Tuesday, the City Council of the City of Dubrovnik sent a proposal for amendments to the decree on communal order. According to these changes, the owners of the premises who have agreed to allow the cash machines' placement there, and for which they receive up to 12,000 kuna in compensation, must obtain the approval of the Ministry of Culture's conservationd department if they don't want the ATM to be removed. According to Dessard, this is ''an illegal attempt to interfere with economic activity".

''The law clearly prescribes the powers of local self-government units. These powers relate to the facades of the buildings, and the ATMs set up by Auro Domus aren't on the facades, but in the interior of the business premises, and for their installation, no building permits are needed,'' emphasised Dessardo, citing several articles of law related to this particular matter.

''The biggest absurdity of the whole story is that the City of Dubrovnik is trying to ban one of the most important tourist activities. The money that tourists withdraw from the cash machines is the money that stays in that local government unit and will be spent in Dubrovnik's cafes, restaurants, shops,'' concluded Dessardo.

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For a while now, Dubrovnik's residents have been complaining of the over-commercialisation of the city. This UNESCO World Heritage site has become a bit of a Disneyland of late, partially because of the Game of Thrones gravy train and partly because of cruise ships and other daytrippers who contribute to the ''cheapening'' of the destination.

While nobody can argue that the city itself is cheap (quite the opposite, although there are actually numerous notable exceptions), one thing that contributed to this unwanted image was the placement of far too many ATM machines in no less than the heart of the Old City, precisely the area protected by UNESCO.

Not only does the placement of far, far too many cash machines in the heart of this beautiful, Medieval city look crass, but it causes yet more disturbance to the few people who continue to live within the walls, the number of which has dropped significantly since the 1990's. It seems however, that Dubrovnik's residents have won their anti-ATM battle, and the machines must now be removed within a thirty day period.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 18th of June, 2019, although the influx of ATMs are indeed located in private areas, they're placed on Dubrovnik's ancient and beautiful facades, and they're distorting the look of the old buildings along Stradun and in other parts of the ancient Old City.

In accordance with the desire of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franković sent a proposal to the Council of the City of Dubrovnik to amend the decree on municipal order.

According to the proposed modifications for the openings of buildings located in the historic core of the City of Dubrovnik, it is forbidden to set up ATM machines as well as other devices, as well as advertising cabinets, writes the local portal Dubrovački portal.

Regarding the existing ATM machines already placed in Dubrovnik's historical core, it has been established that these machines must now be completely removed within thirty days from the date of entry into force of the decision if the owner/user of the space hasn't managed to obtain the appropriate consent or approval from the Croatian Ministry of Culture's conservation department.

In the face of too many cruise ships and their excessive pollution, overcrowding, the semi-collapse of the city's old and incapable infrastructure and endless traffic jams, it seems that the citizens of Dubrovnik have finally had their day, at least in this instance.

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