It was a lovely weekend to be on the beach in Dubrovnik, with temperatures in the thirties and endless blue skies the city’s beaches were full.

The long-term forecast shows more unbroken sunshine on the way and the next week should see temperatures soaring even warmer.

Check out our photo gallery of the atmosphere on the iconic Banje Beach in Dubrovnik.

One of the biggest chains in the fast food world, McDonald's, could soon be opening its first restaurant in Dubrovnik. With the news that the Port of Dubrovnik will receive massive new investment as contracts have been signed with Global Ports Holding and the fact that the project for the new port building includes a shopping centre it is believed that McDonald's have shown interest in entering.

The McDonald's franchise owner in Croatia, Globalna Hrana Ltd, stated in 2013 that they had no future plans to open a restaurant in Dubrovnik. The reasons given at that time were it wasn’t commercially feasible and that Dubrovnik was isolated from the rest of the country. However it seems that they have changed their tune, the new port building with its shopping centre and high traffic of passengers has turned their heads. The PR for Globalna Hrana Ltd Ivana Sapina commented that “Above all one of the most important goals of McDonald's in Croatia is to enlarge our offer in Croatian cities. We are very pleased with the expansion of McDonald’s restaurants in Croatia and we aim to continue this development.”

Rumours are abound that McDonald's have been waiting for such a development to surface in Dubrovnik, one that has a high turnover of people and that will attract both tourists and locals. “Whenever the right business opportunity appears McDonald's is ready and willing to take advantage. Dubrovnik is one of the most well-known tourist destinations in Croatia,” added Sapina.

This change of direction for McDonald's in Dubrovnik is probably due to the fact that 1.3 million cruise ship passengers pass through the Port of Dubrovnik every year. It could also be connected to the planned shopping centre in the Port of Dubrovnik which has already caught the interest of many world known brands. The whole investment into the Port of Dubrovnik project is reported to be worth over 93 million Euros. In the autumn of 2016 works will begin on the project and the plan is to complete the port and connected buildings by 2018.

Every weekend our resident "Style Guru" will be scanning the streets of Dubrovnik for the latest and greatest in fashion.

One of the highest paid ice-hockey players in the world danced the night away in the Culture Club, Revelin in Dubrovnik last night. P. K. Subban plays for the Nashville Predators in the National Hockey League, in fact he has just signed for the Predators from his former club the Montreal Canadiens.

The ice-hockey star was almost immediately recognised by American and Canadian tourists in the popular Dubrovnik night spot and was more than willing to pose for photos and sign autographs. P. K. Subban and his friend were in the VIP section of the club and according to sources danced until the early morning hours, he also got up on stage and waved to the massed partygoers. Last night was a special night as the mega-popular British DJ, Doorly, was performing and quite clearly P. K. Subban had an evening to remember.

Apart from recently signing a multi-million dollar contract with the Nashville Predators P. K. Subban also won a gold medal with Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Photos Dino Avdic 

As temperatures hit thirty degrees in Dubrovnik today the city was buzzing with tourists and locals. The sunshine looks like it will last at least until the end of the month; the long-term forecast is dominated by glowing sunshine.

Check out our gallery of Dubrovnik today

The Dubrovnik Times has teamed up with one of the most renowned institutions in Dubrovnik, the dance ensemble Lindo, to offer you some great prizes.

Win two tickets for two performances of Lindo in Dubrovnik!

All you need to do is comment “Lindo” on this article or on any of the social media channels of The Dubrovnik Times and your name goes in the draw.

The first performance is on Tuesday the 5th of July at 9.30pm in the Lazareti complex and the second is on Friday the 8th of July at 9.30pm again in the Lazareti complex. We are giving away two tickets for both performances. The tickets will be waiting for you on the door!

What are you waiting for!

An international jury has made a decision on the final solution for the design of a future passenger terminal in the Port of Dubrovnik on 28th of June, 2016. Twenty proposals have been received and only one has been selected by the international jury after a whole day of consultations.

The new passenger terminal will be built by the French-Turkish consortium Dubrovnik International Cruise Port Investment. It is a joint venture with the Turkish company Global Ports Holding and the French Bouygues Batiment International. The main focus of the French group is construction and the Turkish group Global Liman Isletmeleri A.S. specialises in development and management of cruise and trade ports.

The consortium was granted a 40-year concession on the port for which they will spend 25 million Euros in concession fees and invest almost 94 million Euros in the construction of the new passenger terminal.

Apart from a new cruise ship terminal this project also includes a shopping centre, a new international bus terminal and 700 parking spaces on the area of around 25,000 square meters.

The value of the concession is estimated at 750 million Euros and the construction on the new terminal is to start in the autumn of this year and should be completed by the end of 2018.

The Dubrovnik Port Authority began looking for a strategic partner for the terminal in September 2014 and last autumn accepted the only offer, submitted by Dubrovnik International Cruise Port Investment.

Antun Asic, the Dubrovnik Port Authority manager, Arpak Demircan, the Management President of Dubrovnik International Cruise Port Investment and Dragos Victor Stefanescu, the Management member, signed a preliminary contract on the concession for constructing and using of the passenger terminal in Gruž at the Croatian Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure in February this year. The final deadline for signing the contract is due for October 2017.

After three years of membership in the EU, Croatian cars will finally get new registration plates. The standard number plates in Croatia consist of a two-letter city code which is separated by the crest of Croatia from three or four numbers and one or two letters.

The Croatian Ministry of the Interior has announced that a new Regulation of Registration and Licensing vehicles regarding the new number plates will be enacted by law on Monday, the 4th of July, 2016.

According to the Road vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations, the new number plates will be in accordance with the EU design standards. A blue vertical rectangular has been added on the left side of the standard number plate with a mark of the country's EU membership (''the European logo') on the top of the blue rectangular and a national mark for Croatia – HR on its bottom. Registration space remains as it was so far.

When the issue of the new registration plates starts, drivers will not have to change their standard ones because those registration plates will be changed gradually i.e. in cases of regular changes such as a first registration, a change of issuing region or in case a number plate has been lost, stolen or damaged.

As far as the pricing is concerned, almost all types of number plates will be cheaper with the enforcement of the new Regulations. The price for standard registration plates has been decreased from 76 Kunas to 65 Kunas and the price for customized plates has been decreased from 378 Kunas to 278 Kunas. Transferable licence plates have also become much cheaper; the current price has been decreased from 920 Kunas to 278 Kunas.