Croatia Online - Split's Deserted Riva

Only a couple of years ago, you'd be queuing for a seat at any one of the several cafes on Split's seaside promenade on a sunny summer afternoon. Now you'll feel very lonely drinking your coffee in the clinical ambience after the expensive makeover. A couple of the cafes, like the one in the foreground, have rebelled against the dictat that says all the chairs must be uncomfortable, uniform, metallic, space-age-type designs. However they can't do much about the concrete slabs which reflect too much heat and light, or the ugly metal lights and awning machinery. So the result is that locals, and tourists in the know, head inside the Diocletian Palace for their coffees and the Riva has become something of a ghost town. Split residents have voiced their views vociferously and indeed may well get some concessions. Most people just want a return to how it was, where the cafes had scope for taseteful and individual terraces, coffees were a reasonable price and the beautiful facades of the old buildings weren't obliterated by ugly metal poles.

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