Wednesday, 19 February 2025
Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas - The editor and big chief of The Dubrovnik Times. Born in the UK he has been living and working in Dubrovnik since 1998, yes he is one of the rare “old hands.” A unique insight into both British and Croatian life and culture, Mark is often known as just “Englez” or Englishman. He is a traveller, a current affairs freak and a huge AFC Wimbledon fan.

Email: mark.thomas@dubrovnik-times.com

The Konavle region, to the south of Dubrovnik, is having problems with forest fires over the past week. Last night a fire broke out at 2 o’clock in the morning in the hills between Kuna and Lovorna.

Eleven firefighters from the Konavle fire brigade attended the fire with four vehicles and inside four hours the fire was brought under control. The fire brigade reported that no residences were at risk and they still have no information as to how the fire started.

Just last week a forest fire engulfed 100 hectares of pine forest in Konavle. Over 60 fire fighters fought the blaze and three special airplanes were called in to assist. It seems that the fire was started by a 25-year-old who is suspected of throwing a flare into the countryside.

To the joy of all animal lovers in Croatia, the new Animal Protection Act came into force on the 26th of October 2017.

The new Act has introduced many positive novelties and regulated deadlines for certain provisions, as well as larger fines for irresponsible citizens, responsible persons, cities and counties in order to ensure successful implementation of the new Act in practice.

Money fines are now doubled for those who abandon their animal pet as well as for those who do not take care of their animal pets’ offspring and amount to 15,000 to 30,000 Kunas.

After the ban of keeping dogs permanently tied up in the cities of Zagreb and Osijek, an accent will now be put on citizens’ responsibility to provide suitable conditions for dogs and enable them to move freely.

In addition, in accordance to the new Animal Protection Act, all Croatian counties must have a shelter, no later than the 31st of December 2018.

The British rock singer and songwriter Sir Rod Stewart has already announced his arrival in Croatia next February when he will hold a concert at the Arena Centre in Zagreb.

Before the concert on the 2nd of February 2018, the British singer also known as ‘’Rod the Mod’’ reveals that he is looking forward to his visit to Croatia which will be not only a business one but a private visit as well.

Nicole Artukovich and liam

Liam Stewart and Nicole Artukovich

Stewart has announced that next summer he will sail along the Croatian coast upon recommendation of his future daughter-in-law Nicole Artukovich. Attractive Nicole is a long-time girlfriend of his son Liam Stewart; she is of Croatian origin, but lives in the US. However, she regularly visits Croatia especially in the summer.

Thus, Liam Stewart, a hockey player and a son of Rod Stewart and his ex-wife Rachel Hunter, already visited the Croatian coast. He was so thrilled with it that he shared his numerous memories from the Adriatic on his Instagram profile.

Apart from its natural beauty, rich history and cultural heritage, Croatia is well known for its long tradition as a Mediterranean paradise for campers.

Camping tourism in Croatia is very well developed and widespread, whilst Croatian camping sites stand out due to their attractive and exceptionally preserved natural locations, mostly by the sea.

Year after year, Croatian campsites raise the quality of accommodation and services, through various certificates and categorization, which is certainly not unnoticed but confirmed by the increasing number of guests and various awards.

This year three new members have joined the prestigious group of nine Croatian campsites with environmental protection Ecolabel. They all went through all the stages of environmental protection check and met all environmental standards within the Ecocamping project supported by the Croatian Ministry of Tourism.

The nine Croatian campsites with Ecolabel are Baldarin (the island of Cres), Glavotok (the island of Krk), Kovačine (the island of Cres), Park Soline (Biograd), Porto Sole (Vrsar, Istria), Aminess Sirena (Novigrad), Turist (near the NP Plitvice Lakes), Zaton Holiday Resort (Nin), Robeko (near Sibenik) as well as three new members Aminess Park Mareda (Novigrad), Galeb (Omiš), Stobreč Split (Split).

Alan Walker, a relatively young, but already world famous DJ, has published a new video this morning and it’s already clear that it will be a huge success – it has almost one million hits in just one day. Single ‘All Falls Down’ is made with Noah Cyrus (sister of Miley Cyrus) and Digital Farm Animals. What is really interesting is that the video was filmed in Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

But not just anywhere in Croatia! Part of the video, directed by Kristian Berg, was filmed in Kupari, resort in ruins, placed just around 15 minutes away from Dubrovnik, in Zupa Dubrovacka. The story behind the resort is quite interesting and if you want to know more about it, you can see it here.

However, this is surely another great promotion for Croatia – maybe not that direct, but still a promotion. Alan Walker is loved by many, especially after publishing a breakthrough single ‘Faded’, that has over one billion views on Youtube. He calls his fans ‘Walkers’. This Norwegian DJ is only 20 years old and who knows what more we can expect from him. Making another video in Croatia – we hope!

The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. The European Union exchange student program, Erasmus, has brought hundreds of foreign students to Dubrovnik. In fact, the majority of students in The Dubrovnik University are not from the city.

And evidence that all these foreign students not only bring a colourful international feel to Dubrovnik but they can also help to promote the city, comes in the form of this video that was sent to us from an Erasmus student from Slovakia.

Viktor Kudzia spent one semester in Dubrovnik and filmed this short video which he then sent to the German media giant Deutsche Welle (DW) who featured it on their website and it was also broadcast on the DW show “Check-In” where it was seen my over 100 million viewers in Germany and worldwide.

Winter time calculation starts on Sunday, October 29th, by moving the clock one hour back. On Sundays at 3 am, clocks should be moved one hour back – but most probably your smartphones will do it for you. However, it’s good to know (especially if you have a wrist watch!).

Winter time calculation lasts until the last weekend in March, when summer time begins and the clock will go one hour forward.

Changing the clock has been a hot topic in the European Union. Some say it’s useless, while others say that people are not good in adapting to changes. However, there is still no decision of ditching the ‘’turning the clocks’’.

The Croatian Automobile Club warns the drivers that during the winter period, they need to have their lights on during the day.

The British scientist Dr Chris Smith, world widely known as a ‘’Naked Scientist’’ has visited Croatia.

Thanks to his radio show and podcast, Dr Smith has become one of the most influential communicators of science. When he does not record his one-hour audience-interactive science radio talk show, he works as a professor at Cambridge University as well as a guest professor at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia.

As part of his visit to Zagreb, Dr Smith met with students at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (PMF) and at the Ruđer Bošković Institute. He also visited the high school MIOC where, according to his words, was very impressed by how much high school students are interested in science and how much they understand it, especially in English.

Created and launched in 2001 by Chris Smith, the Naked Scientists was one of the first podcasts to exist and is now one of the world's most popular science shows, achieving over 50 million programs downloads in the last 5 years.

Working with broadcasters internationally including the BBC, the ABC (Australia), Primedia (South Africa), Talk Radio Europe and Radio New Zealand, the professional audiovisual media created by the Naked Scientists team attracts a global audience of more than a million people each week.

The Voice of Dubrovnik

THE VOICE OF DUBROVNIK


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