The official end of the summer is nigh, but Motovun is still teeming with tourists. The weather is balmy, and it is quite likely that it will be on the pleasant side through much of the fall. Which means that the tourist season will stretch into October, and maybe even November. Everything depends on the weather, though. This applies especially to tourists from the neighboring countries in the European Union. They come to Istria by car whenever they please. But the fly in the ointment is Croatia’s treatment of refugees, most of whom hail from the Middle East.

The government has foolishly welcomed them a few days ago only to become overwhelmed by their numbers soon afterwards. The border is officially closed now, but that is hardly an impediment for the refugees. Now they are coming from Serbia because the Hungarian border has been closed to them with barbed wire, but the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina is so rugged that it would be nearly impossible to control their numbers. If refugees eventually go that way and then spill across the areas in Croatia that traditionally attract tourists, everything will change quickly. Tourists will disappear.

Now that all the Union borders have been closed to the refugees, Croatia may well become their temporary abode of choice. The balmy weather only helps in this regard. And the consequences will be dire, it goes without saying. The Croatian government is totally and completely incompetent across the board, and the refugee crisis is no exception. What if it continues all the way to the tourist season next year, which traditionally opens with Easter? And it is good to remember that tourism is the only sector of the economy that is still viable in Croatia. Since independence, all the other sectors have been virtually devastated, and it is hard to imagine how they could ever be revived again.