Advent on Hvar begins on December 1, 2019 - the full programmes in Hvar Town and Stari Grad. 

One of the undoubted hits in Croatian tourism in recent years has been the late-season boost provided by Advent. Something hardly celebrated in tourism terms until just a few years ago, the rise and success of Advent in Zagreb has trickled down to the rest of the country, and seemingly every town now has its own December programme. 

Advent on Hvar is no exception. For those of you used to the summer beaches, seeing a Christmas tree in the main squares of the towns can be an amusing sight. One of the things I always appreciated about Christmas on the island coming from Manchester was the lack of commerciality on the island. The Christmas tree in Jelsa used to go up on the main square ten days before Christmas. And a minimal exchange of presents and hearty family lunch, and that was Christmas. Much better. 

Advent on Hvar has also gained in popularity in recent years, and this year's festivities kick off tomorrow in both Hvar Town and Stari Grad. 

The full programmes are above and below - a nice break from those long winter evenings before Easter and the dawn of a new tourist season. 

To learn more about the island of Hvar, check out the Total Croatia Hvar in a Page guide. 

ZAGREB, November 30, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said on Saturday that women had still not achieved full equality in relation to men either in Croatia or globally, and she underlined the importance of the fight against domestic violence and violence in general.

"We have excellent legislation but we must continue to fight prejudices and stereotypes," she said at an event marking the 20th anniversary of the HDZ Women's Association "Katarina Zrinski".

Grabar-Kitarović warned that laws were still not respected with regard to equal pay for equal work, and that women, notably young ones, were discriminated against when looking for a job because they were asked if they had children and if they planned pregnancy.

She said that she had grown used to being insulted publicly but that current trends in schools, families and society in general were not good.

"If you can insult the President of the Republic, why wouldn't you be able to insult or beat up your daughter or girlfriend. The fight against any violence - physical, verbal, psychological and other - is one of the main goals of this society. The fight against domestic violence as well as violence in society in general," she said.

Stressing that women still encountered double criteria and prejudices, Grabar-Kitarović said that success was difficult to forgive, notably in the case of women who promote Christian Democratic and traditional values.

She also said that she was in favour of an expert debate on more flexible working hours, to make Sunday a family day, and that she would propose forming a team to analyse how much Sunday work was justified.

Underlining the importance of equality, Prime Minister and HDZ leader Andrej Plenković said the equality had to reflect on political institutions, the business sector and all other areas of human activity.

"It is particularly important that women have a big, recognised, visible and leading role in political parties as well," he said, expressing satisfaction that the first woman president in Croatia's history was HDZ member Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

Warning about the problem of violence against women, he recalled that Croatia had ratified the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul convention) and that several laws that increase penalties for those who commit violence would receive a second reading in the parliament.

More news about the status of women can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 30, 2019 - The presidential candidate of the Workers' Front party and the Socialist Workers' Party, Katarina Peović, said in Rijeka on Saturday Croatia needed a radical change, that it was going in the wrong direction and that the ongoing teachers' strike confirmed that a majority of people thought so too.

Asked by the press about the strike, Peović said it had shown long ago that it was no longer just about a 6.11% rise of teachers' job complexity index and that this was a rebellion against the incumbent government and the direction the country had been going for the past 30 years.

The most important thing is "that all parents, teachers and all unions and workers in other sectors have united in this protest," she added.

"We have been watching for years the inflammatory policies of this government, which has been dividing workers and turning them against each other. In this strike, for the first time, all workers are on the same side, the parents too are with the teachers, and the teachers are also helping the strike in Đuro Đaković, where workers have not received two wages," Peović said.

"The Uljanik (shipyard) workers, who have lost their jobs, are lending their support too, and we have seen on their example how inflammatory policies affect people and their lives. Now people in Croatia are showing that they've had enough," she added.

More news about presidential elections can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 30, 2019 - Croatian citizens are expected to spend 15.3 billion kuna over the coming holidays, 500 million kuna more than a year ago, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) said on Saturday.

The estimate refers to the period from December 1 to January 1. Retail is the main driver of the holiday consumption and it is estimated that it will generate about 14 billion kuna, Tomislava Ravlić of the HGK told a press conference.

The 15.3 billion kuna spending estimate is based on the tax reform and wage growth, another good tourist season, higher consumer optimism and record-high employment, she said.

For the past ten years, December has been the period of highest spending in a year, Ravlić said, adding that 8-10 billion kuna was spent during the "classic" months and up to 14 billion kuna during July and August in record tourist seasons.

The highest spending in December is recorded in the week before Christmas, she said.

Retail has been stable for the past five years and turnover has been recording growths since August 2014, with the exception of four months of decline and one of being stable, Ravlić said, adding that in the first nine months of this year trade was 3.7% higher than at the same time in 2018.

She also underscored changes in consumer habits. Previously, the majority of citizens worried about the cost of living, whereas now the majority (29%) prioritise health, 21% the cost of living and 20% the work-life balance.

"This tells us that the economy has stabilised and that consumer optimism has increased and that, despite problems, our citizens live better, i.e. that the standard is better," Ravlić said.

She also mentioned that in Europe 50% of the people who use the Internet also shop online, as against 27% in Croatia.

More economy news can be found in the Business section.

November 30, 2019 - Croatia has a new high-ranking member of the European Commission, Dubravka Šuica. Who is she?

Dubravka Šuica was born on 20th May 1957 in the city of Dubrovnik. After graduating from high school, she moved to Zagreb, where she majored in English and German at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University in Zagreb. Even though she was a teacher in elementary and high schools in her hometown, she is infamous in the Croatian media for her "Russian" accent and stammering during her speech at the European Parliament. Contrarily to that is her current position in the European Commission, which puts her as the highest achieving Croatian in the EU administration. 

Career journey

Shortly before starting her career in Croatian politics, Šuica worked as a headmaster of Dubrovnik Grammar school from 1996 to 2001. In the parliamentary elections in 2000, she was named a member of the Croatian Parliament, and a year later, she also became Mayor of Dubrovnik. She held this until 2009, and in the meantime, was voted in the top 10 mayors of the world (2006), as well as won an award for being the Mayor of the Year by the International League of Humanists (2009).

Dubravka Šuica has been part of the ruling HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) party since 1990, and with it, a member of the Croatian Parliament during the three mandates which HDZ won, in 2000, 2003, and 2007. When Croatia became the 28th member of the Europian Union in 2013, Šuica became one of the twelve new EP members. She was reelected in the 2014 European elections.

Even though Croatians apparently think she is doing a great job representing their country in the European Parliament and they are showing it by voting for her on three consecutive elections, Šuica is not going to fulfill her role this time around. Instead, she will move on to a much more prominent position. Last week, she was appointed to the European Commission as one of six Vice-presidents, designated to Democracy and Demography. In the next five years, she will be part of Ursula von der Leyen's hand-picked team, which will be governing the European Commission, and with it, the EU as well.

The woman who has often been called a favorite of Croatia's Prime Minister, Andrej Plenković, a significant asset to Croatia's foreign policy and immense pride of her party is the same woman whose public Facebook posts are often grammatically incorrect. Recently she was the subject of mockery, as people questioned her previous position as a language teacher when she misspelled two words in a single Facebook post. 

Controversy

Her three-hour-long hearing before the European Commission in October, which she barely passed with the required number of votes, happened amidst another hearing, that of her affair over her declared list of assets. Always presented as a modest woman coming from a hard-working family from Dubrovnik, Šuica became the subject of controversy in the Croatian media after her net-worth was said to be over 5 million euros.

The declared list of assets of the new VP of the European Commission became the top news story in Croatia this September, even before her hearing, in GONG's campaign, which was directed at getting the information Šuica didn't want to disclose to the public. GONG is a Croatian non-governmental organization which aims to encourage citizens to actively participate in political processes, and fight for their civil and human rights. Their first goal was to get the answers to six questions that were dismissed after the Committee for the discovery of Conflict of Interest denied access to Šuica's personal information by invoking the protection due to the fact she once worked for the Croatian Government.

GONG proceeded with its requests, and soon the news was flooded with information that Šuica's net-worth was 5 million euros. As soon as Šuica discovered it, she called it fake news on her twitter profile, which sparked further comments from GONG as well, after which Šuica even posted a picture of her house in Cavtat mocking the Croatian media.

#5millEuros = #FakeNews

Digital platforms are actors of progress, we need to ensure that they are not used to destabilise our democracies. We should develop common standards to tackle issues such as #Disinformation and online hate messages."

Dubravka Šuica's Twitter account

In her admission form for European Commission, Šuica handed over her declared list of assets, which was a bit different from the one required in Croatia because it doesn't list quadrature and value estimation of the said property. Instead, it was discovered most of the property is said to belong to Šuica's husband and retired ship commander, Stjepan Šuica.

Expecations from her position

Many of her fellow Croatian citizens are probably confused as to what is exactly going to be her role as a Vice-president of the European Commission designated for Democracy and Demography.

Some of the questions which were raised before Šuica were appointed were directed at her ability to be unbiased and deal with some of the problems the EC might be faced with, in an authentic European matter. For instance, Šuica was against sanctions to Hungary for violating the rule of law, she was against the resolution on equal pay between genders, and she rejected report which would enable tighter mechanisms for control of the protection of human rights. The only safe thing to say is that only time will tell whether she will be able to prove that Ursula von der Leyen made the right decision by putting Šuica on her team.

For the latest in Croatian politics, check out the TCN politics section. 

November 30, 2019 - The Euro 2020 draw was held in Bucharest from 6 pm on Saturday. Croatia will play in Group D with England, the Czech Republic, and the winner of Nations League C. 

The draw for the highly anticipated Euro 2020 began at 6 pm in Bucharest, one of the 12 host cities of this first-time format. The draw included 20 national teams who have already qualified, while we'll find out the four remaining teams in March when the Nations League finals are held. 

Croatia was drawn into Group D with England, the Czech Republic, and the winner of Nations League C (Norway/Serbia v Scotland/Israel).

You can see all of the Euro 2020 groups below:

Group A: Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales

Group B: Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Finland

Group C: Ukraine, Netherlands, Austria, A/D-League Playoff Winner

Group D: England, Croatia, Czech Republic, C-League Playoff Winner (Norway/Serbia v Scotland/Israel)

Group E: Spain, Poland, Sweden, winner of the B-League Playoff Winner

Group F: Germany, France, Portugal, D/A-League Playoff Winner

The pots for the draw were as follows:

Pot 1: Italy, Belgium, England, Germany, Ukraine, and Spain

Pot 2: France, Poland, Switzerland, CROATIA, the Netherlands and Russia

Pot 3: Portugal, Turkey, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic

Pot 4: Finland, Wales, play-off A, play-off B, play-off C, play-off D

Recall that Croatia could only be drawn in groups A, D, E and F. 

Croatia could not be drawn into Group B, where Denmark and Russia are the hosts, and Group C, with the host Netherlands. Before Saturday, we knew that the possible opponents for Croatia were Italy, England, Spain, and Germany.

The first game of Euro 2020 will be played in Group A, in Rome, Italy starting at 9 pm. 

You can see a breakdown of the cities and stadiums hosting the competition below:

GROUP A

Rome (Italy) - Olimpico (72.698)

Baku (Azerbaijan) - Baku Olympic Stadium (68.700)

GROUP B

Saint Peterburg (Russia) - Gazprom Arena (68.134)

Copenhagen (Denmark) - Parken (38.065)

GROUP C

Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Johan Cruyff Arena (54.990)

Bucharest (Romania) - Arena National (55.600)

GROUP D

London (England) - Wembley (90.000)

Glasgow (Sweden) - Hampden Park (52.063)

GROUP E

Bilbao (Spain) - San Mames (53.332)

Dublin (Republic of Ireland) - Aviva (51.700)

GROUP F

Munich (Germany) - Allianz Arena (75.000)

Budapest (Hungary) - Puskas Arena (67.889)

ROUND OF 16

Bucharest, Copenhagen, Bilbao, London, Glasgow, Dublin, Budapest, Amsterdam

QUARTERFINAL

Saint Petersburg, Munich, Rome, Baku

SEMIFINAL

London

FINAL

London

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

As Croatian teachers continue with their strike after their unions refused the government's latest offer to them, could another public service follow in their footsteps? Croatian customs officers, much like Croatian teachers, are far from happy with the way their wages are arranged, and are seeking a correction of their own coefficients. It's hard to say how the government will respond to their request, as it appears all attempts at a conversation on the topic from Croatian customs officers have been ignored so far.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 30th of November, 2019, this coming Monday, the Croatian Customs Union will enter into talks with the Ministry of Labour about their multi-year request for the correction of their coefficients, the same argument which has seen Croatian teachers go on strike recently.

The Croatian Customs Union's president, Rino Štorić, complained about the pressures they are currently experiencing.

"Since we've been seeking coefficient changes for several years, the Ministry of Finance has gone deaf and they won't receive us for talks, so we organised a protest and delivered a letter to the Prime Minister, and after that, there was still no reaction," Štorić explained during a conversation with N1.

"We have held a referendum for the strike, but at this moment I can say that we do have a meeting scheduled at the Ministry of Labour on Monday and, depending on the results of that meeting, we will make decisions on further action," he said.

Štorić said they expect positive results from the meeting, but he also complained that he and the union were under tremendous pressure.

''That's why we expect to speak at the Ministry of Labour based on facts and we expect understanding, we wouldn't go to the meeting if we didn't expect a positive result,'' Štorić concluded for N1.

Follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more.

November 30, 2019 - Trogir artisans have been at the centre of the town's life for thousands of years. Unlike Dubrovnik, the modern Trogir artisans are upholding the authentic traditions of the past. 

The most thought-provoking presentation of 2019 for me so far was called Successful Tourism by tourism guru Doug Lansky at the Crikvenica International Health Tourism conference earlier this month. One of the most acclaimed speakers on the global circuit, Lansky gave a brilliant presentation of what does, and what doesn't work. HIs simple message for what people are looking for was something unique, different experiences. You can read the full report on Lansky's presentation here, but one of his simple observations was the following:

But it is the truly unique attractions which make us travel. And the very ironic thing is that those very unique things are VERY affordable and cost almost nothing. Imagine going to Paris without visiting two of its stars, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre - combined entrance price just 20 euro. The Taj Mahal (1 euro), the Pyramids (6 euro) the Great Wall of China (7 euro), the Hermitage in St Petersburg (8 euro), the Statue of Liberty (17 euro), Edinburgh Castle (20 euro), Macchu Picchu (39 euro). Lanksy took us through 15 world-class and very unique attractions, of which Petra in Jordan was the most expensive at 60 euro - total entrance price just 290 euro all in. In his example, a tourist coming from Vancouver to Paris to see the Louvre was spending just 0.3% of the holiday budget on the thing he came to see.

Unique experiences. It is something I have been thinking a lot about ever since. Croatia has an abundance of unique and fascinating experiences, but they are either completely overrun by tourism (Dubrovnik, Diocletian's Palace, Plitvice Lake and the Blue Cave), or almost completely ignored by tourists visiting Croatia (incredible Vucedol, the birthplace of Telsa in Smiljan, or - for religious tourists - the only authenticated Croatian miracle in Ludbreg). 

I had another incredible authentic experience last week in Dalmatia, a 6am walk around a spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Site that I had all to myself in bright sunshine. Thousands of years of history in the stone streets and squares of Trogir, it was magical, and I encourage you to take the effort, particularly out of season, when most of the cafe awnings have been put away, thereby exposing more of the original stone. 

I was in Trogir for the launch of the new branding of the town, Trogir, Marked by Masters, a fantastic project with so many layers of genius that I am still trying to unravel them before writing a big report on it. While I knew that Trogir had a rich artisan history, I had no idea that the traditions of the past were so alive in Trogir today, or that all the actors in the promotional video above were in fact masters in their own field. The new branding of Trogir, Marked by Masters was not only a throwback to past history, but very much a link to the vibrant creative scene in the old town today. 

Unlike Dubrovnik. 

If we were to make a list of must-see places according to Lansky's presentation, the old town of Dubrovnik would surely be number one on the list. It is even free to visit (or about 25 euro from memory to visit the famous walls). Just the kind of attraction that Lansky would be drooling over. An attraction which gets people on the plane with most of the money generated around it. A destination filled with fine stone buildings and cute arts and crafts from family businesses dating back generations. Unique and different experiences. 

Except things have not quite worked out that way in Dubrovnik. 

The curse of overtourism and the obsessions with numbers, numbers, numbers is such that one of Croatia's leading boutique travel agencies told me they are considering removing Dubrovnik entirely from their 2020 offer. 

How crazy is that?

But if you stop to take a closer look, the reasons are plain to see. Several years ago I went to visit the legendary barber in the old town who had run his barbershop for about 50 years from memory. 

He was the last such business left in Dubrovnik. All the other artisans had stopped their trade or moved out of the old town, to be replaced by tacky souvenir shops selling cheap Chinese crap and Game of Thrones souvenirs. 

And the majority of visitors on their day trips were not even spending. I was shocked when a specialist souvenir shop, which has successful stores in other coastal locations, told me they were closing their Dubrovnik shop as business was so bad, especially in July and August when sales were worse than May and October. So many people in the town that those who wanted to explore at leisure and spend were going elsewhere. 

I decided to look into the Dubrovnik artisan scene over the years. Many thanks to Miso Mihocevic and Miljenka Tarana for their local Dubrovnik expertise. Check out this 1929 map of the old town of Dubrovnik and its artisans. The map is from a 1929 edition of a book by Nada Scatolini.

A list of all the arts and crafts shops which made the list. 

I asked Miso how things were in the more recent past, 1991 for example, the year of the outbreak of the war:

By 1991 there were 7 barber shops, now only one, 3 tailors, now zero, one hat shop (was old tradition and excellent) closed several years back; 5 joiners, long since gone. 3 shoe repair shops, zero now. ( in my time there was an interesting little shop that repaired umbrellas, time ran it over ..) Some craft shops have become souvenir shops and are hardly traceable even in the memory of my friends.

Apart from the solitary barbershop, nothing else remains in Dubrovnik today. 

Which is why Trogir was SO refreshing. Although smaller than Dubrovnik, Trogir is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a formidable heritage dating back thousands of years. But the big difference between Dubrovnik and Trogir is that so many of those old arts and crafts are very much on display today and practiced by the youngest generation of the family business. 

Sculptors, coral jewellers, goldsmiths, tailors, shoemakers and a clock repairman - they can all be found in the old town of Trogir, practicing their family trade as generations of their family did before them. 

In an era of overtourism and making the quick buck, this new direction of Trogir is one of the most interesting positive tourism developments I have come across recently, certainly on the coast. 

I encourage you to visit. But make sure that your day starts with a 6am walk around this magnificent World Heritage Site out of season, when you will experience Dalmatia at its very finest, and all to yourself. Then enjoy a morning coffee on the waterfront of one of the squares, before starting your tour of the Trogir artisans. 

To follow the latest from Trogir, check out the dedicated TCN section, or learn more about the town in the Total Croatia Trogir in a Page guide.