After tourist binge drinking – Croatia allows alcohol ban

TT

Published 20.59

 

Croatia is a popular destination for sun-thirsty tourists. Archive photo. Photo: Darko Bandic/AP/TT

Croatia has approved a new law that allows local authorities to stop alcohol sales in stores during certain hours.

The aim is to get rid of drunkenness among tourists.

Among other things, the mayor of the city of Split, a popular tourist destination known for partying and binge drinking, announced that the sale of alcohol will be banned between nine in the evening and six in the morning.

The ban only applies to stores, and not to bars or restaurants.

Croatia's Minister of Tourism, Tonci Glavina, states that the goal of the new law is to improve the quality of life for locals who "want to live in symbiosis with tourists" and not to let the country exist only for tourism.

“It’s not sustainable in the long term,” he says.

Last year, Croatia, with its 3.8 million inhabitants, welcomed almost 22 million tourists.