Rubbish Covers Famous Dubrovnik Beach Banje

The news in Croatian

1. plastičan
   koji je napravljen od plastike ↩︎
2. struja  (f.)
   kretanje vode, zraka ili električne energije u određenom smjeru ↩︎
3. turizam  (m.)
   putovanja i aktivnosti ljudi koji posjećuju druga mjesta zbog odmora ili razgledavanja ↩︎
4. zaštita  (f.)
   radnja ili mjere kojima se nešto čuva od opasnosti ili štete ↩︎
5. Jadranski
   koji se odnosi na Jadransko more ↩︎
6. more  (n.)
   velika količina slane vode koja pokriva velik dio Zemlje ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: What kinds of rubbish were in the sea near the Banje beach this week?

Question 2: Why are people asking for better protection of the Adriatic Sea?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
plastičan	plastic
struja  (f.)	current
turizam  (m.)	tourism
zaštita  (f.)	protection
Jadranski	Adriatic
more  (n.)	sea

Read the full story

The well‑known Dubrovnik beach Banje, usually promoted as one of Croatia’s most attractive city beaches, was this week found covered in floating rubbish and debris, according to reports shared on Croatian social media and by local news outlets.

Photos and video published by the local portal Dubrovački dnevnik show the shoreline and sea surface filled with plastic bottles, packaging and other waste. The images contrast strongly with Dubrovnik’s regular tourist image and have attracted wide attention online.

The first viral post came from local resident Ivuša Brajević, who shared footage of the polluted sea and wrote a sarcastic greeting “from Albania”, adding that there was “rubbish in the sea like in a story” and that Banje beach was full of waste. His post suggested that a large share of the floating rubbish had been carried to Dubrovnik by sea currents.

According to local media, this situation is not new. Journalists and residents recall that similar episodes of pollution happen regularly, especially after certain weather conditions and sea currents. They report that, in many past incidents, the waste was believed to have come from the direction of Albania and other parts of the southern Adriatic, eventually reaching Croatia’s southern coast.

Commentators in the Croatian press describe the issue as a long‑term, cross‑border environmental problem. They note that regional and international bodies have already discussed it, and that some measures and agreements have reportedly been introduced to reduce marine pollution. However, the latest scenes on Banje beach are presented as evidence that these steps have not yet fully solved the problem.

Croatian outlets also highlight the contrast between the national tourism slogan, which presents Croatia as “full of life”, and the reality shown in the photos. One video report describes the country instead as being “full of unsorted rubbish”, with a local saying that “the further south you go, the sadder it gets”. Such comments reflect frustration among residents who depend on tourism and a clean sea for their livelihoods.

While the reports emphasise the visual impact and economic risk of rubbish on a major tourist beach, they also point to the wider context of Adriatic Sea pollution. Journalists and locals argue that a durable solution will require stronger cooperation between Croatia and neighbouring countries, better waste management on land, and more systematic clean‑up efforts along the shared coastline.

For now, local authorities and cleaning services are expected to remove the waste from Banje beach, but Croatian media suggest that similar pollution incidents are likely to recur unless regional environmental policies and practices improve.

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