Amanda Holden enjoyed a family break in Dubrovnik last week. The celebrity judge of Britain’s Got Talent spent time in the city and enjoyed a ride on the cable car and a dip in the warm Adriatic Sea.

She also proved that she is a fan of the HBO series Game of Thrones as she went on her own “Walk of Shame” in the same spot this famous scene was recorded. Holden filled her Instagram account with wonderful photos of her summer holiday. Holden is an English television presenter, actress and singer, best known as a judge on ITV's Britain's Got Talent since the show began in 2006.

In 2016, there were 13,985 persons that immigrated to the Republic of Croatia and 36,436 persons that emigrated from it. Therefore Croatia had a negative net migration with foreign countries that amounted to -22,451.

In 2016, there were 55.3% of Croatian citizens and 44.7% of foreigners who immigrated into the Republic of Croatia, while 95.6% of Croatian citizens and 4.4% of foreigners emigrated abroad. Out of the total number of immigrants, there were 31.1% of persons who arrived from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Out of the total number of emigrants from the Republic of Croatia, 56.1% of persons departed to Germany.

In 2016, the greatest share in the total number of persons who immigrated to the Republic of Croatia was recorded in the City of Zagreb (23.8%) and the County of Split-Dalmatia (14.0%). The largest share of emigrants from the Republic of Croatia to foreign countries was recorded in the City of Zagreb (13.4%), followed by the County of Osijek-Baranja (10.0%) and the County of Zagreb (8.0%).

Every now and then it’s good to take some unusual trip. The one that we recommend today is – salt works in Ston, just a drive away from Dubrovnik. Ston salt pans are one of the oldest active salt pans in the world and are a great attraction.

The tradition of harvesting salt lasts for over 4000 years and is still produced in the same way as it was before – with assistance of the sea, sun and wind. Ston salt works or ‘’Solana Ston’’ has 58 pools divided into five groups. Nine pools are meant for crystallization process – 8 of them carry name of the saints (Francis, Nicholas, Balthazar, Anthony, Joseph, John, Peter and Paul) while one is called Mundo (world).  Salt was precious during the Dubrovnik Republic and two pools that carry the names Blaise and Lazarus and have granite bottoms were used for making the purest salt and sending it to Wienna court.

The harvest of the salt is done during the summer months or more precisely from April to October. Annually, 500 tons of salt can be harvested from nine pools.

Take a short tour through Solana Ston in our photo gallery.

Non profit organization ‘Blue World Institute’ brought amazing news on their official Facebook page – in only 2 days 10 dolphin newborns were observed in Cres-Losinj waters.

-Dear friends we bring you the great news! This week our research team observed a group of 49 dolphins and within this group 9 newborn dolphins were present. Interestingly, 5 of them were clumsily swimming next to the females that became mothers for the very first time! We wish them all the success in raising their firstborns. But that is not all, in the same sighting we saw female Bully alone, but already on the following day Bully was observed also with the newborn, the smallest we’ve ever seen - just one day old! – Blue World Institute published.

They also brought a set of photos showing these sweet newborns. Visit their official Facebook page to see them.

Croatian Mountain Rescue Service published a thank you note by married couple John and Jennifer on their official Facebook page. Couple was rescued on July 6th from the mountain of Srd, where they got lost after leaving the path.

John wrote special thanks to the team who came two hours later for them and took them to the hospital, admitting that it was reckless to start their hike without checking the correct route.

-I'm familiar with the fact that your members are volunteers and I am very happy to have met them. We would like to support your work so please provide us with an account number so that can pay a donation to help your work – John wrote in this note, saying that they really enjoyed visiting Dubrovnik.

Croatian Mountain Rescue Service thanked for the donation and also wrote that gratitude from those we rescue is their biggest prize.

Deputy County Mayor of Dubrovnik Neretva County Josko Cebalo participated in the presentation of the conceptual project of the new Port of Korcula, held in the City Hall of the City of Korcula.

Director of the County Port Authority of Korcula Vedran Lelekovic welcomed all the participants and expressed his satisfaction with the progress of the project documentation and stressed that this is a major infrastructure project that will contribute to the development of tourism in Korcula.

Cebalo stated that Dubrovnik-Neretva County provides full support for the further development of the project at all levels.

The new port will be built on the location Polacista (Zrnovska Banja), five kilometers away from the town of Korcula. The port is optimized in accordance with the needs and the depths of the sea. In January it was said that the the port is estimated to cost about 70 million Kuna, which is significantly less than the original version of the port, whose construction was estimated at two hundred million Kuna.

    New Port of Korcula - photo by Dubrovnik Neretva County

Deputy Mayor Jelka Tepsic and Director of Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Romana Vlasic hosted a meeting with the Jin Park, President of the Korean-American Association and the Asia Future Institute, accompanied by his wife Yoon Hee Cho, a famous violinist.   

This was the first visit to Dubrovnik for Jin Park and Yoon Hee Cho, so the Deputy Mayor and Dubrovnik Tourist Board Director did their best to present the city’s rich cultural and historical heritage, as well as the most important cultural programs and projects.

The married couple expressed the desire to establish cooperation with the City of Dubrovnik and especially with its cultural institutions such as the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra.

Although two fire fighting planes went to the airport in Cilipi this morning, the fire at Bjelotina is still active and re-engagement of air forces is expected around 3 pm.

Commander of the Public Fire Department, Mario Magud, commented the situation for Dubrovacki vjesnik, saying that the part of the fire approaching the village of Bani is sanctioned, while on the tops of Bjelotina and eastern, towards Montenegro is still active.

He explained that around 20 people are on board with two fire fighting planes.