August 26, 2019 - Foreign camper vans have finally found the best location to ‘camp out’ in Split this summer - and they don’t even have to reach into their wallets.
Interestingly, the location is known and accessible to everyone in Split, and if you live in the city or, hell, even got hit with an injury or illness on your Croatian holiday, chances are, you’ve been here too.
Namely, Slobodna Dalmacija writes that tourist campers have found a home in the southern parking lot of the Clinical Hospital Center in Firule (KBC Split), right in front of the main medical building that houses the Psychiatry Clinic. For countless days and nights, camper vans have found comfort in spending their summer holidays in this popular Split parking lot. There are sometimes five to eight vehicles, most often with Italian and Spanish license plates, though some citizens recall seeing Czech plates, too.
Hospital staff, as well as patients and visitors of the hospital, aren't taking a liking to the campers because parking at KBC Split is already a battle, and always a headache.
The campers can be found across the hospital parking lot, but you can also find them on the nearby dirt area, along the entire southern side of the KBC Firule complex.
“We know about this problem and we have already reported it to the Communal Police. We, as a hospital, do not have the mechanisms to remove these camper vans. But the problem is that they, as tourists, do not in practice violate the law, but are just parking in a parking lot. The Communal Police Department said they could not do anything to them either, because the campers do not occupy more than one parking space,” says Dr. Anton Marović, Assistant Director of the largest Dalmatian healthcare institution.
There have been cases in recent years where their owners would bring out tables, chairs, and even umbrellas to dine beneath the hospital windows and balconies.
Slobodna Dalmacija also spoke to Damir Ordulj, the head of the City of Split municipal department.
“Legally, we can't do anything to them because they only take up one spot in the parking lot to accommodate the vehicle. In addition, they have not set up tables outside their campers. But we will definitely send a traffic officer right away to see what he can do in this regard,” said Ordulj on Saturday.
KBC Split also said that they still have not been able to reach someone from the Tourist Inspectorate, which is the only one authorized to sanction campers outside the campgrounds. For reference, the closest campsite to Split is in Stobreč.
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