April the 16th, 2022 - Istrian police have pulled an explosive device from the sea close to Vrsar after a fisherman checking his catch net alterted them to its presence below the surface.

As Morski writes, on April the 12th, Istrian police officers removed 200 pieces of small ammunition from the port of Stinjan, while not long after, in the Port of Vrsar, they acted on the report of a fisherman who found explosive devices while raising his catch net. An explosion protection officer was sent to the scene and determined that they were two artillery shells, he then seized them for their proper and safe destruction.

As for the people who voluntarily handed over their weapons to the Istrian police recently, in the area of ​Zminj, while cleaning the house of someone who had passed away, one citizen came across an automatic rifle with a magazine, 285 pieces of various types of ammunition and six shell casings. In the City of Pula, someone found a hand grenade from World War II while cleaning out their yard, while in Pazin, a woman handed over an air rifle to the Istrian police force.

The Istrian Police Administration continues to call on people living across Istria County to make their lives safer and to get rid of any weapons they have without facing any punishment or sanctions.

All people who illegally possess weapons, ammunition or mines and explosives can call their nearest police station completely anonymously in order to hand over or disable such means without facing any further legal action. No misdemeanor or criminal proceedings shall be instituted against those persons who voluntarily surrender such weapons or other means, if they surrender their weapons themselves, before the police begin to conduct reconnaissance operations.

It is also important to emphasize that people must not bring these weapons in person to the police station or administrations, in order to avoid their activation and unwanted injury, but to inform the police by calling the number 192, after which professional and trained police officers will come to your home to collect these weapons.

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February 1, 2020 - The construction of the Stancija Grande Golf Complex near Vrsar, with an investment led by Maistra, has been in the public eye for a long time, especially for the residents of Vrsar. 

Namely, Glas Istre reports that a golf complex with a 27-hole golf course should be built on an area of one hundred hectares, in the area determined by the Spatial Plans of the County of Istria and the Municipality of Vrsar, based on the prepared Environmental Impact Study and Urban Planning Plan (UPU).

The same documents envisage landscaping along the golf course with four reservoirs that would be filled with collected and purified stormwater, sanitary, technological and drainage waters and from underground sources. The construction part of the complex includes a five-star hotel with a capacity of 200 beds with accompanying facilities, which should be high quality with a diverse offer, and an integral part of the complex. The existing residential building at Stancija Grande would be transformed into a golf clubhouse, with a golf academy, the Murtić Gallery and a service complex with a nursery.

The golf course would be a Championship Golf Course, signed by world-renowned golf player and golf course designer José María Olazába. It would not belong to the classic "tourist" courses found in most golf destinations in southern Europe. The landscape, course, hotel, clubhouse and related facilities are designed to allow the most demanding professional golf competitions organized by the European PGA Tour, which would place Stancija Grande in the top 100 courses in the world.

The Stancija Grande Golf Complex will be connected to the southern main access road by extending the existing road from four to eight meters, while the construction of the western access road is the responsibility of the Municipality of Vrsar. The service road to the complex will be built by widening the field road from three to six meters. For connection to the public water supply network of the Istrian water supply system, a water tank and a supply pipeline up to 800 meters long will be constructed, as well as a supply pipeline to the golf complex 500 meters long. HEP will conduct cabling to the golf complex.

The existing quarry at Stancija Grande, which is now practically in the function of a wild landfill, will be arranged and integrated as part of the golf course. 

With the construction of this golf complex, Vrsar would be classified as a golf destination of European and world rank. The broader goal of this project is to diversify the tourist offer, improve the tourist destination and improve the quality of the tourist service in Vrsar, which is known so far, mostly as a quality camping destination. This would also extend the tourist season, and this project aims to implement a new tourist offer in the existing offer, which is geared towards carefully selected groups of higher spending guests.

When asked about the status of the project, public relations associate Vanja Mohorović said that in the next three-year period, out of the planned HRK 4 billion, the Adris group plans as much as HRK 3 billion for tourism, of which HRK 450 million is planned for investments in Vrsar. Three hundred fifty million will be earmarked for the Eden Hotel and Camp Amarin this year, and the renovation of the Panorama and Westin hotels in Zagreb will begin at the end of the year. This year's investments in Vrsar will include the Koversada Naturist Camp and Porto Sole Camp.

"As for inquiries for the Stancija Grande Golf Complex, there are no new facts, and the project will be notified to the public when all its details have been defined," Maistra concluded.

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January 29, 2020 - Outdoor tourism in the protected areas of Istria was presented at the CMT - Die Urlaubsmesse trade fair in Stuttgart, with a special emphasis on cycling and nature walking, as part of the EU project KLIM Kontija-Lim Bay. 

Glas Istre reports that among the many European projects implemented or currently being implemented by the County of Istria is the EU project LIKE - Living on the Karst Edge. Thus, as part of this great German fair, everything that the Ćićarija mountain plateau has to offer, including the development potential of cycling tourism under the brand of Ćićarija Regional Park, was presented in this segment.

“We have presented and exhibited promotional materials related to outdoor hiking and biking with an emphasis on eco-friendly tourism products and offers in nature protected areas. We also presented the second edition of the brochure on eco-friendly content in Istria called Istria ecoxperience - Everything Eco in Istria. The sea and the seabed of the Lim Bay on the west coast represent a special reserve in the sea, while its slopes and coast are protected natural values, which include the Kontija Special Forest vegetation reserve. 

This year, the area is richer with cycling trails and educational walks that blend in without compromising the natural environment to allow visitors to move along the entire channel with the opportunity to engage in a range of recreational and educational programs. At the fair, we exhibited leaflets, brochures, monographs and posters, and enriched it with video materials. Everything is super accepted as people seek new experiences and move away from the hustle and bustle,” said Bruno Kostelic, Head of the Department for Nature and Environmental Protection in the County Department for Sustainable Development.

He also emphasized that cycling and cycling tourism are of primary interest for the development of selective forms of tourism in Istria, and that in the case of the Ćićarija Regional Park, this potential takes on a whole new light.

One of the key trends in the tourism sector is the growing concern for the environment, both by hoteliers and other tourism companies and guests, among whom there are more and more people who change the way they travel because they care about the environment and seek content that offers natural values and unspoiled nature.

“Istria County is a tourist destination, which has numerous natural values and landscapes that are not exclusively related to the sea, as well as offers and tourist facilities on the coast. In the Istrian peninsula, 35 natural areas are protected, and with the accession of Croatia to the European Union, we are additionally adorned with 66 Natura 2000 sites, which makes up 37 percent of the total area of protected natural values in our county. Natural values are our wealth and potential we protect, and we develop new tourism products with innovative concepts such as citizen science projects and other content and offerings within protected areas that in many ways involve science, locals and our guests, leaving us with a real sense of involvement and contribution to protecting nature,” Kostelic notes.

Istria County is a partner in the EU project KLIM Kontija-Lim Bay, Sustainable Management of Protected Areas, which is implemented under the Operational Program Competitiveness and Cohesion with an implementation period from August 2018 to December 2021, the leading partner of which is the Municipality of Vrsar. The project is being implemented to use the Kontija Forest and the entire Lim Bay sustainably, through the construction of a scientific and educational center of the Kontija protected forest, as well as providing numerous additional facilities following the nature protection conditions and developing a broader vision of the development of the Lim Valley area. In its spatial scope, it includes the project area, but it also extends to the areas of the currently unincorporated cities and municipalities of Pazin, Rovinj, Kanfanar, Sveti Lovreč, Sveti Petar u Šumi, Tinjan and Žminj.

At the same time, because of the exceptional natural values of the Lim Bay and the Kontija Forest, recognized through several different nature protection categories of the project area, the Natura Histrica Public Institution plans to develop management plans for these areas for their protection and sustainable development. The Kontija Forest thus becomes one of the key natural resources for the further development of tourism in the Municipality of Vrsar.

The KLIM project begins the systematic approach to the valorization of the wider area of the Lim Bay and the Lim Valley, which abounds in exceptional natural and cultural heritage. The broader framework and vision of the development are defined by documents that the County of Istria has produced before the implementation of the KLIM project, the Spatial Programming Basis (PPO) of the Lim Bay and Lim Draga, the programming concept of Lim Valley Park, the Lim Bay Recreation Park design concept.

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As Morski writes on the 11th of March, 2019, the current situation at Vrsar harbour is now very lively. The Rijeka companies Vodogradnja and BSK Commerce began intensive works on the upgrading of Vrsar's pier, which would increase its capacity to allow for fifteen bigger fishing boats to moor.

As was reported by Glas Istre from Poreč Port Authority, the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture will invest a massive 10.5 million kuna in this project, 75 percent of which is funded by European Union funds and 25 percent comes from the funds of the competent ministry. The works will see the extension of the already existing sixty-metre-long pier.

All of the other projects that are due to be carried out in Istria in other port administrations are under preparation at this moment in time, while in Vrsar these works are being carried out currently and intensively within the framework of their previously planned deadline(s).

The pier is being extended for the needs of Vrsar's fishing infrastructure, meaning that its primary intention is for local fishermen. With the extension of the existing pier, fifteen new spaces for larger fishing vessels will be provided. On the construction site, Glas Istre came across one of the representatives of the Vodogradnja Rijeka company, engineer Davor Grbac, who confirmed that the works were now in full swing.

''We're currently in the seabed drilling phase where we will set up 22 pilots, which will be fitted with assembly parts manufactured at the factory. Following on from that comes the installation of the power and water supply,'' stated Grbac, he added, among other things, that the plan as it currently stands is to carry out the works on the pier in two phases. The first phase should come to an end at the beginning of this year's main tourist season, and then be picked up and ready to continue at the end of September.

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Click here for the original article by Slaven Brajkovic for Glas Istre

The long weekend bears its tourism fruit!

The world's quietest (and arguably most beautiful) rally began in Rovinj on June 3, 2018, as almost 50 Teslas begin a luxury tour of the birthplace of the great inventor, as the fifth edition of the Nikola Tesla EV Rally gets underway in Istria. 

A wad of cash for some of Istria's campsites.

Vrsar in Istria might be getting a new tourist hotspot dedicated to the sea

In the municipality of Vrsar in Istria, Maistra plans to build a golf course named ‘Stancija Grande' on an area of 100 hectares.

One of the world's largest online travel agencies, Expedia, is hosting its first cycle of training for small-scale tourist facilities under the Expedia Road Show in Istria.