Following Hvar’s example, another popular destination on the coast decided to put a stop to swarms of half-naked tourists roaming the streets of their town
The Town Council of Vodice decided to add a couple of paragraphs to their municipal regulations, reports Jutarnji on August 15, 2017.
It’s now forbidden to walk around the streets and the town squares in Vodice in your birthday suit or even half-naked – including strolling around in a bikini. The new regulation applies to the areas of Obala Vladimira Nazora, Mirko Zora Street, Dr Franjo Tuđman Square, Knez Branimir Square, Obala Ive Juričeva Cota, Artina Street, and all other streets in the historic centre.
After Dubrovnik, Hvar and Makarska, Vodice come as next in line of tourist meccas that passed a ban on public nudity. To get the message across, warning signs about the new dress-code will be installed at multiple locations in the town centre. The signs will feature a crossed-out image of a nude person, along with a remark in Croatian and English saying ‘Respect our tradition’. The regulation is to take effect a week from now.
President of the Town Council Marin Mikšić explained the decision was passed after numerous reports and complaints by the citizens of Vodice, but also by a number of tourists who considered the lack of clothes on many visitors distasteful. “It’s known which places can be visited by girls and women in bikinis and men wearing swimming trunks – they’re called beaches. They can’t walk around town scantily clad, especially not at town squares and streets that house sacral objects and cultural and municipal institutions”, Mikšić said.
Municipal guards will enforce the regulation by approaching inappropriately dressed visitors and warning them they are disrespecting the town’s dress-code.
So far, there hasn’t been any talk of introducing fines. “Our first priority is to educate guests on the appropriate way to dress in the historic centre. We want to fight improper behaviour with a sort of a cultural pressure. This is a pilot-progamme, and depending on how effective it turns out to be, we’ll modify the regulation accordingly”, said Marko Lugović, head of the Administrative Department of Utility Services of the Town of Vodice.
