Wednesday, August 02, 2006

The Black Sea coast: newspapers are telling the truth

Last week, we went to the sea resort of Primorsko for a vacation. We had been there 4 years ago. Now I couldn't recognize the place, so much new hotels had been built. The out-of-control construction works at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast are often reported in our newspapers. I had the opportunity to see for myself that newspapers had written nothing but the truth.
There were so many and densely distributed newly-biult hotels and hotels in construction that, despite evident efforts to make their architecture diverse, the overall impression was very poor. My husband rightly said that it looked like Lyulin (this is one of the Sofia districts built for the working class during the socialist era, all in ugly multy-storey buildings).
I wonder how the numerous investors get their construction permits. In fact, everybody knows: by bribing the buraucrats. And of course nobody cares to protect the coast against landslides, to take care of the sewage waters etc. All the mad new construction is overlaid on the fragile infrastructure of the old, village-like town. Small wonder that a week or two before we arrived, an ordinary rain caused overflow of the sewage system and the streets were immersed in contaminated water. I am even afraid to think what happens with the sewage of those new hotels that are nearest to the beach. I bet it goes directly into the sea. Happily, none of us suffered any gastrointestinal infection, as I feared.
Neither my husband nor I want to go to Primorsko again. I hope next time we'll find some small town or village that has mostly escaped development, doesn't look like a socialist suburb and has no water jets. I'm afraid no such place has remained.

1 comment:

BHCh said...

Shame. I've been to Slynchev Bryag and Zlatnyi Piastzi years ago and have great memories ...