Press
A German investor wants to turn the Stupova beach bay upside down. Now the locals are fighting against his construction plans.
Moscenicka Draga – Stupova Bay in Croatia, a picturesque refuge away from the tourist crowds, is a popular retreat for bathers. It is nestled between rocky cliffs and forest, by crystal clear waters and marks the border between the Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Istria counties.
But behind the idyllic backdrop, a conflict is brewing. Some huts that once served as storage for fishing boats stand on the beach. According to the Croatian news portal Morski.hr They belong to the descendants of the fishermen. However, a German investor wants to remove them because they were “illegally built on other people’s land”.
Croatian bay Stupova to become a tourist paradise
In December 2022, the owners of the fishing huts were asked to contact the land owner and vacate the huts. In the meantime, the forest was cleared and rocks that fell onto the beach were removed. Behind all these measures lies “a mega project”, as Josip Milić, the investor and land owner from the German company Amre, said in a Interview with Morski.hr explained.
The plan is to expand the beach and create space for a marina, several villas with pools and helipads. A true luxury paradise for tourists in Stupova Bay. But the implementation of this plan is met with resistance. In particular, the owners of the fishing huts want to prevent the project in order to protect nature and their “maritime property”, which they consider the huts to be part of.
Investor plans “megaproject” – residents of the Adriatic Bay protest
In the summer of 2022, the building supervisory authority prohibited the investor from carrying out extensive work on the bay. Morski.hr has the document to Building banBut the situation on the ground has not calmed down, but rather worsened: at the beginning of June 2024, a fence was put up around the huts on the beach by the investment company, with a sign saying “private property” and “no entry”.
The opponents of the “megaproject” are mainly residents of neighboring villages in the municipality of Mošćenička Draga, various Croatian media report. They gathered on the beach of Stupova Bay on July 1 to protest. Some of them tore down the fences that had been put up. They do not want to be driven away.
The tourism boom is also causing discontent in other countries: in Mallorca, locals regularly protest against the crowds. Tourist actions in Italy always cause people to shake their heads, such as a tourist gag at the famous Trevi Fountain in Rome.
German investor defends his construction plans for the Adriatic beach
Investor Josip Milić cannot understand the residents’ discontent. He and his family have even received anonymous threats and phone calls. “Since I received the threats, I no longer want to communicate with these people,” he said.
He explained that as a company they were obliged to put up a protective fence around the huts and to put up a warning about possible rockfalls, as a road was to be built there. “All of this is on our property,” said Milić. He considers the construction work to be particularly “useful” as the population will benefit from the access roads and helipads for health emergencies. He believes that the tourist complex will be built in a few years. It remains to be seen whether the conflict over the bay will escalate further by then. (asc/sp)
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