Bulgarian authorities carry out check-ups in Sunny Beach, other Black Sea summer resorts
For a second consecutive night, teams from Bulgaria’s police, tax agency, food, health and labour inspectorates carried out check-ups in the Black Sea summer resort of Sunny Beach on August 12.
The exercise was led by Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov, who even before Bulgaria’s peak summer holiday season had begun had targeted Sunny Beach for action against noise, tax evasion and other irregularies.
Bulgarian National Television reported on August 13 that the centre of the Sunny Beach was much quieter on Saturday night after the closure of a disco the night before, apparently for excessive noise. Other entertainment establishments in the resort also had turned down the decibels, according to the report.
Simeonov, a co-leader of the nationalist United Patriots grouping that is the minority partner in the Borissov coalition government and who has singled out Sunny Beach for law enforcement, was to convene a meeting on August 13 of the Tourism Co-ordination Council in Bourgas. After this meeting, it was expected that results of the inspections of recent days would be announced.
Going by a video posted on Facebook, in at least one venue that Simeonov visited, partygoers greeted him with jeers and shouted insults.
Reports have said that the joint teams from various authorities had found discrepancies in records of the takings at hotels. Other irregularities included food lacking documentation on its source, and food that had expired. Also found were fire safety violations and a lack of employment contracts of hotel staff.
Elsewhere on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, the Maritime Administration has been carrying out spot checks of jetski hire and other such seaside services.
The Maritime Administration issued a reminder that the regulations forbade the hire of equipment such as jetskis to children, although many parents ignored this rule.
Maritime Administration Maria Nikolova said that the rules included that jetskis and other entertainment craft should stay away from sea lanes designation for ships, and that people using the equipment should wear life jackets.
Nikolova said that the most recent inspection by the administration of beaches in Bourgas had not found any violations of the rules, but inspectors would be carrying out further surprise check-ups throughout Bulgaria’s summer holiday season.
A separate report said that the Maritime Administration had found irregularities at places conducting small boat cruises along the Kamchiya River in north-eastern Bulgaria, about 20km south of Varna.
In Bulgaria’s north-eastern region, there are 60 vessels registered for use for tourist services, of which 13 were in Kamchiya.
Before the summer season, each vessels undergoes a thorough inspection, so there is no concern about safety. However, given high demand, some captains were ignoring rules about the maximum number of passengers allowed on a boat, and the availability of safety equipment, the report said.
