Questions about property in Croatia are common, and while the prices vary dramatically in various regions of the country, with places like Split and Dubrovnik typically dominating, there have been some significant fluctuations.

As Novac.hr/Jutarnji/Iva Novak writes on the 15th of December, 2018, Crozilla.com's data on property in Croatia showed that average prices of advertised houses rose by 0.8 percent in November. When comparing them to apartments, which are still more expensive than houses, the difference was almost 21 percent.

Dubrovnik, with a difference of 10 percent, and Poreč with 2.5 percent, remained, as they did in previous months, rare cities in which houses were more expensive than apartments. The biggest monthly increase was recorded in Dubrovnik, where prices rose 5.8 percent, so the value per square metre in a house, with the price of a garden included, rose to 4,145 euros.

For a square metre of a house in Poreč, an average of 1,911 euros was requested, which is 0.4 percent more than it was during the previous month. The biggest difference in prices during November posted on Crozilla.com in Bjelovar, where houses were more than 44 percent cheaper than apartments, and then in Osijek where the difference was 39 percent, followed by Varaždin, at 36.3 percent.

The average advertised price of houses in Bjelovar was only 434 euros per square metre, which is 0.9 percent less than the month before. In Osijek, their value rose by 1.2 percent, while the price per square metre was only 587 euros. The data also showed that houses in Varaždin increased by 0.6 percent on average, and 713 euros was being asked per square metre.

In Zagreb, house prices were almost 34 percent lower than apartment prices, and the price per square metre advertised was 1,261 euros on average, representing a monthly increase of 0.7 percent. In Slavonski Brod, a 634 euros per square metre of a house was demanded, which is almost 21 percent less than the price of the apartment there.

The value of houses fell by 0.3 percent on the monthly level, as well as in Senj, where they were 25 percent cheaper than apartments, and their average cost was 1,195 euros per square metre. Lower monthly value in the amount of 0.9 percent was recorded in Umag, where 1,877 euros was being requested per square metre for a house, which is 7.8 percent less than the average price of apartments there.

In Opatija, house prices fell by 1.1 percent, and the value of their ''square metres'' dropped to 2,216 euros, which is almost 25 percent less than the advertised apartment price. There was a similar difference in the prices of houses and flats in Šibenik, where the average square metre price in a house averaged 1,529 euros, which is 0.1 percent less than it was during the previous month.

In Zadar, however, houses were about 23 percent cheaper than apartments.

Their monthly values ​​increased by 0.5 percent in November, and the price per square metre, with a garden included, stood at 1,698 euros. The prices of houses in Split rose by 3.8 percent on a monthly basis and reached 2,417 euros per square metre. Housing there during November was about 15 percent cheaper than apartments there were, and such a difference in prices was also recorded in Rijeka, where 1,229 euros per square metre were being demanded, 0.8 percent more than the previous month.

In Pula, according to Crozilla.com, prices on a monthly basis increased by 0.3 percent, so the price per square metre of a house demanded 1,459 euros on average, which is 13.1 percent less than the price of the apartment.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for more information on property in Croatia and much more.

Click here for the original article by Iva Novak for Novac.hr/Jutarnji

Pavle Strugar, the war criminal who shelled Dubrovnik, causing not only wanton destruction and horrific damage to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, but also a terrible loss of life, has passed away in Serbia.

Strugar was born on the 13th of July, 1933 in Peć, in the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia, now Kosovo. The Montenegrin general served in the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), undertaking various different roles, and eventually becoming the commander of the Second Operational Group of the JNA, which operated in southern Croatia, in 1991.

Under his command, the JNA monstrously attacked Dubrovnik in 1991, in a siege which caused tremendous damage to the city, and took the lives of both veterans and civilians. The terrible siege of Dubrovnik lasted until 1992, with Strugar retiring one year later, in 1993.

As Jutarnji reports on the 13th of December, 2018, the retired General Pavle Strugar has died in Belgrade following a short but serious illness.

Strugar was tried and sentenced for his actions, as well as for the deaths of civilians at the Hague tribunal, this was coupled with the fact that in 1991, he did nothing to prevent the horrendous war crime of the shelling of Dubrovnik. The Montenegrin initially attempted an appeal to his sentence, but that was later withdrawn.

Strugar voluntarily handed himself over to the Hague Tribunal in 2001, making a name for himself as the first Serb or Montenegrin to make such a move. Because of his part in the criminal shelling of Dubrovnik, a beloved UNESCO World Heritage Site, he was sentenced to a pitiful 7.5 years in prison, and of course, he didn't even serve that, after serving a mere two-thirds of his sentence, he was released back in 2009. 

Strugar will be buried this Saturday at the Bežanijska cemetery in the Serbian capital, according to a report from Mondo.rs.

Make sure to stay up to date with our news page for much more.

Greek investor Petros Stathis has been visiting numerous institutions in order to complete the most luxurious tourist project in the Republic of Croatia, Amanresorts Cavtat, in Croatia's southernmost county of Konavle which borders Montenegro.

As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of December, 2018, Greek investor Petros Stathis has re-activated matters over more recent days in regard to the eventual realisation of the Amanresorts project in Cavtat, otherwise being hailed as the most luxurious tourist project in the whole of Croatia, which could even end up making the list of strategic projects in the Republic of Croatia, which would be a useful move in terms of resolving the outstanding issues of spatial planning, among others, as soon as possible.

As a result of the large amount of paperwork involved in the process, the aforementioned investor has been heavily engaged in all of the required fields, from the state administration to the local administration, as Poslovni Dnevnik has unofficially published. The reactivation of the Amanresorts Cavtat project comes after more than three years after Amanresorts Cavtat was supposed to open its doors, but unfortunately encountered several stumbling blocks, mainly typically administrative ones, although Stathis never once gave up on it.

"I'm convinced that the Amanresorts Cavtat project will be successfully completed, and together with other Aman projects in the vicinity, Amanresorts Venice and Sveti Stefan (Montenegro), will become the star of the tourist sector of South East Europe," said Petros Stathis in the spring of 2015, when he explained why he was suddenly closing the Cavtat construction site.

He then stated that there were problems with the Bonvena Hotels company which was due to take care of the Cavtat project, which Stathis took over in the meantime, and that the entire chain of Amanresorts luxury resorts had gone through the process of ownership change.

For the realisation of the project, the investor is supposed to adapt the spatial planning documentation, and it's necessary to reach an agreement on various other factors, considering that the investor is seeking the closure of the beach below the area with his 30 million euro project.

The Municipality of Konavle didn't respond to Poslovni Dnevnik's question of what exactly they are willing, or unwilling, to offer to the investor in order to realise the Amanresorts Cavtat project. In addition, not even the investor himself, who has been investing in Montenegro in the meantime, has spoken publicly on the subject.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle, travel and business pages for much more.

Click here for the original article by Marija Crnjak for Poslovni Dnevnik

British low-cost airline EasyJet will launch four new lines to Croatia in their 2019 summer flight schedule, including two to Pula, one to Dubrovnik, and one to Zadar, reports AvioRadar on December 13, 2018. 

The strongest new line for the carrier will operate between Dubrovnik and Berlin (Tegel) three times a week, on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. This new line is in addition to the long-standing Dubrovnik-Berlin (Schonefeld) route. Unlike the Schonefeld route, the new Tegel route will begin operating almost two months earlier - from May 2, 2019. At the same time, this route will run until the end of the summer schedule, or October 26, 2019. 

The Schonefeld line, however, will also get an upgrade. The popular route will now be strengthened to four flights per week, instead of three, and run on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. This brings the total number of flights between Dubrovnik and Berlin to seven a week, which is an additional four flights compared to last year. 

Pula will also get two new routes next summer from the Netherlands and Switzerland. The new Pula-Amsterdam line will operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Sundays, from June 25 to September 1, 2019. The new Pula-Geneva line will also circulate twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, from June 26 to August 31, 2019. This will be the second line to Pula from Switzerland after Basel was introduced this year, which will continue operating with two flights per week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, in 2019. 

The fourth new EasyJet line for Croatia next summer is between Zadar and London (Gatwick). The new line will operate twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays, from April 30 to October 26, 2019. Similar to Dubrovnik, this is an additional line for EasyJet from London, which already operates to Zadar from London Luton Airport. The existing EasyJet flight from Luton will run twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, from April 30 to October 26, 2019.

All EasyJet flights will use an Airbus A320 aircraft or the smaller Airbus A319. 

To read more about EasyJet in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

ZAGREB, December 9, 2018 - A multimedia exhibition called "Dubrovnik - a Scarred City, 1991-2000" will be staged at the UN on December 17 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Dubrovnik's inclusion of the World Heritage List and the 20th anniversary of its removal from the List of Endangered Sites.

Mayor Mato Franković said this would be the first exhibition at the UN focusing on Croatia's 1991-95 Homeland War. "We want to show the world how Dubrovnik suffered in the Homeland War, but also how it was rebuilt after the war."

Julijana Antić Brautović, one of the authors of the exhibition together with Mato Brautović and Goran Cvjetinović, said two historic precedents were related to Dubrovnik. "For the first time in history, UNESCO sent envoys to a war-affected area and they arrived in Dubrovnik in November 1991, recording the damage. Thanks to them, Dubrovnik was included on the List of Endangered Sites six days after extensive destruction on 6 December 1991. Together with Croatian experts, they developed a reconstruction methodology and priorities and oversaw everything," said Antić Brautović.

The other precedent was that Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) General Pavle Strugar and Vice Admiral Miodrag Jokić were the first people to be convicted by an international tribunal of crimes against the cultural heritage as crimes against humanity, she said.

Dubrovnik lived under siege for 240 days, mostly without electricity or fresh water. The JNA swept through surrounding villages looting houses and razing them to the ground. December 6, 1991 will be remembered as one of the worst days in Dubrovnik's history, when Serbian and Montenegrin soldiers targeted the medieval walled town with all types of weapons weapon, killing 19 defenders and civilians and wounding another 60 people. Thousands of shells fell on the historical centre, nine palaces were burnt to the ground and 461 buildings were severely damaged that day.

During the war in the area, 116 civilians and 430 Croatian soldiers were killed and several hundred were injured.

The exhibition is organised by the City of Dubrovnik and Croatia's Permanent Mission to the UN under the auspices of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and the government. After New York, the display will be staged in Dubrovnik's twin cities.

For more on the Dubrovnik news, follow Total Dubrovnik.

Back in the 90s, Dubrovnik, best known today for being the Pearl of the Adriatic, was an entirely different place. Ravaged by war and under attack from the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army) and their Serbian and Montenegrin helpers, who made sure to not only burn houses, but to steal from them too, Croatia's southernmost city suffered one of its most devastating attacks on this very day, back on the 6th of December, 1991.

As Morski writes on the 6th of December, 2018, today will remain scarred into history's bloody memory as the day when the City of Dubrovnik was defended. The attack, which began on Friday, December the 6th, 1991, at 5:50 am, saw the JNA put its weight behind its senseless and barbaric attack on the Croatian city of the arts. The aggressors launched a horrendous assault on the beloved UNESCO World Heritage site, showering the city with blows from the sea and the land, assisted by heavy weaponry including cannons, mortars, and tanks.

The JNA's end goal was to weaken and break Dubrovnik's last line of defense from the former Hotel Belvedere, which now lies in ruin as a star reminder of this shameful assault, to Sustjepan, located along Rijeka Dubrovačka. On just that day, more than 600 Yugoslav Army grenades rained down on the city's historic core, killing and injuring along their way. The JNA, Serbia and Montenegro were quickly met with international condemnation following this act of terrorism, with Serbia and Montenegro ostracised by the European Community, and by the world.

As the fires caused by the attack didn't take long spread across the city, a group of veterans located at Srđ's Fort Imperijal, a Napoleonic building at the very top of the mountain, managed to fend off the brutal and relentless Yugoslav attacks and prevent the defeat of Dubrovnik's last defense, today marks the solemn anniversary, and we honour and celebrate Dubrovnik's War Veterans Day, as Dubrovniknet reports.

During this primitive and unjustifiable attack, nineteen people lost their lives, and sixty were injured, some very seriously. Nine of Dubrovnik's buildings burned, and the damage to the UNESCO World Heritage site's historic core was vast, as it was throughout the rest of the city. At 16:00, the relentless attack ended, with the JNA accepting defeat and finally withdrawing. The courage and the enormous sacrifice of Dubrovnik's war veterans is the reason the city is as it is today.

Pavle Strugar, a former JNA General, was sentenced and rightly put behind bars at the Hague International Tribunal for failing to take command of responsibility during the horrific JNA attack on Dubrovnik on this day back in 1991. Miodrag Jokić also pleaded guilty to six counts of the charges against the JNA for the attack on Dubrovnik, he was also sentenced and jailed.

Make sure to follow Total Dubrovnik for more on the Pearl of the Adriatic.

You know that feeling of traveling in the off-season, only to find that all cafes and restaurants in the town are closed? Lucky for those of you traveling to Dubrovnik this December, that thought won’t even have to cross your mind. You can thank the new project Dubrovnik Winter Restaurants for that. 

With the extension of the season, the vibrant Dubrovnik Winter Festival program, and a diverse gastronomic offer at the Advent houses, this December, visitors to Dubrovnik can enjoy a total of 43 catering facilities in the city, reports HRTurizam on December 4, 2018. 

Given the increase in the number of international and domestic flights during the winter months and the interest and constant growth of visitors, the Tourist Board of Dubrovnik, in cooperation with the City of Dubrovnik, published a new leaflet titled “Winter Restaurants", which contains a list of open restaurants, pizzerias and fast food during the month of December with special working hours.

You can download the leaflet on the Dubrovnik Tourist Board website and at the Information Offices of the TZGD in Pile, Gruž and Lapad.

In the eleven months of 2018, Dubrovnik achieved record-breaking tourist results, once again.

According to the e-visitor system, not counting the data from nautical tourism, 1,250,614 tourists stayed in Dubrovnik from 1 January to 30 November 2018, which is 8% more than in the same period last year, and 4,089,735 overnights were realized, which is 4% moa re than year ago. Most guests were from the United Kingdom, USA, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, Croatia, Italy, Finland and Canada.

In the first eleven months of 2018, hotels welcomed 670,589 tourists, or 7% more than 2017, while 2,162,309 overnights were realized, which is 4% more than last year. Private accommodation saw 433,631 guests, or 13% more than in 2017, while the number of overnights spent in private accommodation totaled to 1,469,379, or 9% more than last year.

Although there was limited air traffic in November due to works at Dubrovnik Airport, excellent results were achieved in tourist traffic. From 1 to 30 November, 34,507 tourists stayed in Dubrovnik, which is 28% more than in November 2017, while 75,605 overnights were realized, which is19% more than last year. The largest number of tourists in November came from Croatia, Germany, USA, BiH, Asian countries, the Republic of Korea, Albania, Japan, the United Kingdom, and China.

To read more about Dubrovnik, follow TCN's dedicated page here. 

December 3, 2018 - Eleven years after entering the Croatian market in Zadar, a great addition to the flights to Croatia 2019 story: Ryanair to Split and Dubrovnik.

Flights to Croatia 2019 just got easier for Irish tourists (and the growing Croatian diaspora in Ireland), as Ryanair has announced two new routes to the Adriatic for next summer - Dublin to Split and Dubrovnik, reports the Irish Independent.

TCN reported 3 weeks ago that Ryanair was in discussions with Split and Zagreb, while the Irish carrier has been talking to Dubrovnik for some time. The sticking point for both Split and Dubrovnik in the past has been giving preferential pricing treatment to Ryanair, whose successful business model is well-known.

It is 11 years since Ryanair changed the landscape in Croatian aviation - and Zadar in particular - by pioneering low-cost flights to the former Dalmatian capital. And yet, while Ryanair took a march on its rivals 11 years ago, it has never really capitalised on that early success. Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik have remained closed to Ryanair's planes. In the interim, easyJet has become the second most popular airline in Croatia.

Until today. 

The Dublin flights to Split and Dubrovnik will commence in June, and we will bring you more details of the schedule as we have it. You can follow the TCN Flights to Croatia 2019 page here. With both Split and Dubrovnik booming and not needing to give financial concessions, and with Ryanair famous for extracting the best deals, it would be interesting to see the fine print of the detail, not that I expect it to be made public. 

One airline which may be less than happy by the news is Croatia Airlines, which is already struggling, and the arrival of Europe's most successful airline in the two biggest tourists airport in the country will hardly be welcome news. 

With plastic pollution continuing to be an ever growing threat to the world's seas and oceans, the EU has ramped up its overall efforts to make sure member states do their jobs. Croatia has been carrying out numerous beach and sea bed cleanups up and down the coast, mainly in the pre and post season but also in the summer. The latest praiseworthy Dubrovnik eco action has seen some ever concerning items dragged from the sea.

As Morski writes on the 2nd of December, 2018, under the organisation of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board and the Dubrovnik Diving Club, yet another Dubrovnik eco action was held, this time at the location of the old town port, where the seabed was cleared of its various types of rubbish. The waste extracted from the sea bed was made up of a variety of plastic and glass bottles, all the way to much larger, bulkier items such as rubber tires and sponges, according to a report from the local portal Dubrovniknet.

One very concerning fact about this particular Dubrovnik eco action is that one of the most commonly found items were rubber tyres from various types of vehicles, this should no longer be the case since there is a recycling company in Croatia which deals specifically with old and unwanted tyres.

Old tyres such as those found during the latest Dubrovnik eco action in the medieval city's famous old port can be left for authorised regional collectors to come and get them, who then send such types of waste to have the rubber content recycled for many other items, as the further application of such material is largely beneficial in many different economic activities and sectors, including construction, infrastructure, playgrounds, and much more.

Make sure to keep up to date with our dedicated lifestyle page for more information like this. If you're interested in keeping up with just what Croatia is doing to protect the environment, follow Total Eco Croatia. If it's just the Pearl of the Adriatic you're interested in, stay up to date with Total Dubrovnik.

Click here for the original article by Dubrovniknet.hr

December 1, 2018 - The latest news from around Croatia's airports for new flights to Croatia 2019, with updates from Dubrovnik, Rijeka, Split and Zagreb airports.

It has been another busy few days for the airports of Croatia, as they gear up for what is certain to be a bumper 2019 season. An overview of the latest news regarding flights to Croatia 2019. 

Flights to Rijeka - Lufthansa Meets the European City of Culture 2020

These are good times for Rijeka Airport, located on the island of Krk. More new flight announcements are coming, as the city gears up to become the European City of Culture 2019, with the latest addition from one of Europe's top carriers. Lufthansa has announced that it will begin operations in the Kvarner region, with the German carrier commencing weekly flights from Munich to Rijeka each Saturday evening, starting on May 25 until October 26. The new Lufthansa flight adds to the three weekly connections to the Bavarian capital from Croatia Airlines - check out the timetable with Avioradar. 

Flights to Croatia 2019 - Volotea to Connect Athens and Dubrovnik

Low-cost Spanish airline Volotea continues its expansion in the Croatian market, with its latest flight announcement a new route from Athens to Dubrovnik, where it will compete directly with both Aegean and Croatia Airlines. The new flights will run on Wednesdays and Saturdays, from April 27 to August 31. For the flight schedule, check out ExYuAviation. 

Flights to Split - Finnair Strengthens Dalmatia, Leaves Pula

Finnish tourism interest in Croatia, in particular Dalmatia, is on the rise,and national carrier Finnair has announced that it will be increasing its services to Split for 2019. Finnair will be offering six flights a week between the Finnish and Dalmatian capitals, with the first flight commencing on April 16 until October 23. Finnair's connections with Dubrovnik will remain at the same level as this year, but the airline has decided to cease operations to Pula. Check out the flight schedules here.  

Flights to Zagreb - the Return of FlyDubai and Celebrations for Croatia Airlines and Turkish Airlines

The livery of FlyDubai will be seen once more in Zagreb, from as early as this weekend, as the low-cost Gulf carrier interchanges with Emirates to maximise load factor, as previously reported by TCN. In other Zagreb news, it was a moment of celebration for both Croatia Airlines, which welcomed its 2 millionth passenger of the year, while Turkish Airlines - which has become a strong regional player in recent years - celebrated 20 years of operations in the Croatian capital. 

(Photo credit - Rijeka Airport Facebook page)

Eurowings - Promoting Kvarner Tourism and a Zadar Codeshare with Austrian Airlines

Some nice promotion for the Kvarner region by Eurowings, whose planes are now adorned with promotional advertising for Kvarner, as shown in the photos above posted by the Rijeka Airport Facebook page. 

Meanwhile in Zadar, Eurowings has arranged a codeshare agreement with Austrian Airlines.

To follow the latest news about flights to Croatia 2019, follow the dedicated TCN section.