The summer festival party season has begun in Novalja on the Croatian island of Pag.

Every summer the town, once dubbed Croatia’s Ibiza, attracts flocks of tourists from all over the world thanks to its impressive festival line-up and surrounding beaches.

Wild beach and pool parties, alcohol and drugs are part and parcel of the festival scene, and it is something local residents are increasingly getting fed up with.

Although Novalja, and in particular Zrće beach, attracts young tourists from all parts of the world, the town’s Mayor, Ante Dabo, has had enough of one particular group – the Brits.

The Mayor has lashed out at the British party-goers in a letter posted on the town’s official Facebook page.

“On walking through the streets of our town, walking around the surrounding places, and listening to the experiences of fellow citizens, I have a feeling of sadness, bitterness, and responsibility as a mayor of the city, who is dishonoured and humiliated by the barbarism and the uncultured majority of young English guests,” Mayor Ante Dabo writes.

Dabo says that the fact that the English tourists, for local standards, have powerful purchasing power, it does not give them the right to behave in such a way that the locals are left almost helpless in the face of their “primitivism, nakedness, drunkenness and discernment” shown on the streets and in apartments that they rent in the town.

“Despite the fact that we have received significant reinforcements from the police, despite the fact we have employed more than 20 municipal officers and a number of security guards, the situation of order and security is seriously jeopardized these days. Therefore, as the Mayor, I apologize to all fellow citizens who are insulted by this behavior and who are indignant at all that have seen these days on our streets. The only thing I can promise is that I will strive with all the forces and fight for the dignity and the reputation of our town that has been seriously disrupted,” he concluded.

(croatiaweek.com)