My place of birth is facing the sun and lies in a beautiful spot where Sredna Gora Mountain splits from its mother - the Balkan Mountain Range. This was how renowned Bulgarian writer Elin Pelin once described his native village of Baylovo which lies some 30 kilometers east of Bulgaria’s capital Sofia. Elin Pelin made one of the most colorful and memorable descriptions of the Bulgarian village and the life connected with the farmland and the change of the four seasons. The good news is that many of the places described by this celebrated Bulgarian author can be found even nowadays. If we take a walk across the beautiful surroundings of Baylovo and Gorna Malina, we would easily find Aglikina Polyana ( Aglika’s Meadow) , Spassova Mogila (Spass Hill) Andreshko’s Swamp and even the Wind Mill, which are all part of the scenery described by the Bulgarian writer in his short stories. One of the most original amusement parks in Bulgaria was built there not long ago. This place attracts thousands of visitors during the warm months and turned into one of the biggest tourist attractions in this country. Perhaps, this is why the small and picturesque municipality of Gorna Malina has won this year’s award of the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association in the segment of the Most Beneficial Cooperation in the field of tourism in 2014. Thus, the village of Gorna Malina has outrun some traditional tourist destinations. What is behind this significant success? Here is what Deputy Mayor of Gorna Malina Angel Zhilanov told Radio Bulgaria:

“We believed that our municipality, which has no traditions in the tourism field, had the potential to develop tourism and we made the first steps towards this goal. Due to our good cooperation with a private company we built an amusement complex on the territory of our municipality - the Wind Mills Hydro-park which now attracts thousands of visitors. Some 2,500 people visit this place during the weekends. Besides, we managed to reveal the full potential of our municipality in terms of development of the rural, eco and sport tourism. That is why we are working purposefully under given projects. All villages of this municipality are situated at the foot of the Balkan Mountain Range and Sredna Gora Mountain. Our proximity to the mountains and the capital Sofia is a great advantage for us and we have already started to attract many tourists. These people see that we have managed to preserve the nature in this area. Some of our future projects envisage the construction of eco pathways. We are also to afforest several pastures which have already lost their purpose. We also developed a large project aimed at constructing a sports complex in the village of Gorna Malina which is now ready and attracts many professional sportsmen and amateurs.”

We learnt from Deputy Mayor Zhilanov, who is currently in charge of the application of EU projects, that the municipality has participated actively and managed to absorb a lot of finance during the current 2007-2014 programming period of the EU. That is the first prerequisite for the successful development of the economic sectors. Moreover, the municipality managed to persuade the civil society to defend the current development plan based on tourism, environmentally friendly agriculture and industry. Gorna Malina is the first municipality in Bulgaria which managed to organize a successful local referendum with the participation of 75% of its citizens who said no to the development of quarries, dung-hills and polluting industries on its territory. In other words, direct democracy is in the fundament of the municipal development, Angel Zhilanov underlines and adds:

“Gorna Malina is indeed the first Bulgarian municipality that held a successful referendum which defended its future nature-friendly development and the future of our children. So, we can make brave steps towards the development of tourism in our municipality. It enables the development of many private business projects. Three horse houses were already opened here. Furthermore, some powerful companies certified their farmlands, in order to produce organic food. In the new 2014-2020 Programming Period the Rural Development Programme counts mainly on organic and nature-friendly measures. 25% of all new projects must be environmentally oriented. We have fully prepared 9 projects for the new programming period and we will start our application as soon as the new period kicks off.”

The Municipality of Gorna Malina is a good example how these goals can be fulfilled, if the authorities and the citizens have the ambition and make the necessary efforts. Let us wish good luck to this municipality and to other small Bulgarian municipalities where, the local authorities, the citizens and the European financial assistance ensure a new quality of life and develop the local economy.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov