The sunset is closing down and young people start gathering at the Orlov Most major crossroad downtown Sofia. Some of them have bikes, other – dogs, there are lots of small children either. These people are to protest against the construction activities envisaged for one of the few virgin beaches left along the Bulgarian Black Sea coastline. At the same time locals from the endangered area have some counter protest, hoping for the opening of new jobs, while an association of entrepreneurs and land owners talk on a green octopus. We continue seeing that picture again and again…

This déjà vu feeling prompts that something isn’t right in this country. Why are green activists the ones that keep stalking and listening for illegally received construction permits for protected natural reserves? Isn’t it the task of the respective ministries and institutions? The case with Karadere shows the opposite. An investment intention was approved a week ago at the highest level, the Council of Ministers, for a large tourist complex near the virgin beach, violating the territory of two Natura 2000 protected zones. If the green community had missed this short part of a stenograph, the project would have been continued in silence.

After the instant protest of the greens ministers started to explain one after another that that had been only the initial green light of the project. Nothing would be constructed on Karadere without the respective environmental assessment. Should we trust them? A line of Minister of Economy and Energy Dragomir Stoynev, saying that the construction activities are expected to kick off on September 3 as scheduled, causes our concerns and doubts. Experts say that only the environmental assessment of the investment attention will take 6 months. At the same time a transparent project hasn’t been presented at all. To say nothing on the transparency of the offshore investors behind it, but it is a subject of a long conversation.

Metaphorically spoken, the virginity of the Karadere beach was protected by firearms until recently. The terrain used to be a military polygon for naval trainings of the Warsaw Pact member-states up until two decades ago. The restituted savory lands have been jumpily bought by construction entrepreneurs afterwards that are now expecting the profits of their investments. The idea for a large resort complex was born in 2007. The initial project of an English architect by the name of Norman Foster envisages the building of lots of hotel complexes and over 7,000 flats on a territory of 120 ha. The project was named Black Sea Gardens. However, the problem is that it seizes zones from the Natura 2000 network with such construction activities in those being inadmissible. The project remained frozen due to both the protests there and the economic crisis.

The remake now is quite cut off – an area of barely 25 ha is to be built up with three hotel complexes and 1,200 apartments. However, it still penetrates Natura 2000 zones and no environmental assessment has been presented on the birds and habitats protected. At the same time the main cause for the protests across several big cities is the fact that Karadere is one of the few remained virgin beaches in Bulgaria. The attempts for the wiping out of those from the tourist map cause an argument that is growing. Should camping fans be totally isolated, looking for a piece of sea view in between two hotels?

Another reasonable issue is being raised. Where are now camping sites along the Black Sea coastline, as this way of spending the summer holiday has so many fans, both here and abroad? There are at least two answers. On one hand, this type of tourism brings no quick profits. That was why old camping sites were shut down. The second answer is that no relevant infrastructure has been constructed on such spots, as the small municipalities have no money for the initial investment in roads, piping and sewerage systems etc. That would be all possible, if the state had the sustainable vision on the development of this environmentally friendly type of tourism, aiming money at small municipalities for that purpose. An eventual forming of a Bulgarian Seaside protected zone could contribute to the solving of the problem, the Let Nature Remain in Bulgaria coalition proposes. The sad and curious fact was that one year ago the now governing socialist party supported the idea, while being in opposition. Today they don’t seem to like the idea that much…

English version: Zhivko Stanchev