Locals living in the seaside city of Split have slammed tourists for urinating on Roman ruins, blocking streets and being “obnoxious”.
Sitting on the Dalmatian coast, Split is one of the most popular destinations for tourists from around the world. In recent years it, and other places in Croatia like Dubrovnik and Trogir, have seen a massive surge of visitors arriving.
However, this surge has not been without its consequences, and discontent is rising in the likes of Split as the impact of these tourists is felt to a greater extent.
As well as triggering price rises and fears about overcrowding, people who have called Split home since they were born have told the Daily Express they are beginning to feel like strangers in their own city.
One local, known as A.B, said: “The locals (including myself) feel as if they’re strangers in their own town. I feel very anxious about that because it’s just so weird walking around your own hometown [and] not hearing a word of Croatian most of the time.”
On whom the worst tourists were, A.B. said it wasn’t so much a case of nationality, but the distasteful behaviour of some of the tourists themselves.
They explained: “I would say that those are the tourists who don’t have a certain dose of respect for the city and the culture they’re getting engaged with. For example, when they urinate all over the ancient Roman ruins and parts of the town, they disrespect the locals.
“But one of the main things which aren’t major but they do make me a bit annoyed I would say is when they just don’t have the general conscience about their surroundings and then just block the way by just standing in the middle of the already very narrow street.
“Most of the people here would say that the worst tourists are Americans because they tend to be obnoxious and loud and just very much into your face type of people.”
A.B. wasn’t the only person to express discontent about Split. Another local said there were too many tourists and that locals were becoming more “paranoid”. They explained: “I think most definitely, as time goes by, people are getting paranoid.
“I would think that mass tourism never brought anything good to anyone, especially the people living here. So, I mean, it disrupts things. Definitely.”
On whether there had been a change since the end of pandemic lockdowns, they said disruption had become part of everyday life.
They explained: “Post-pandemic? First of all, there’s a lot of fuss I would say everywhere and I would also say it just in everyday life… as I told you, they rent their apartments who belong to people.”
The resident also told the Express that the country was now reliant on tourism but that this was having a detrimental impact on the locals, adding there should “definitely” be restrictions.
They said: “It’s a form of making a living here because, in Croatia, we don’t produce anything here anymore. We live off of tourism. That’s mass tourism. Does this have an impact on us every day? I would say yes. There’s a whole lot of people here.
“And of course for me, for example, in my building where I live, [people] rent their apartment and then you have tourists and the people are on vacation, right? And they’re having parties and they’re making a lot of noise, and it just disrupts everything.”