The news that Zadar is the most expensive city in Croatia - ranking above Dubrovnik and Zagreb - according to an app that tracks costs in almost every city in the world, came as no great surprise to locals. The decline in purchasing power can be felt on a daily basis. Life on the coast has become a luxury, with prices aimed at foreigners, not to mention property and rental costs, Zadar residents complain.

“Are we really more expensive than Dubrovnik now?” is a common question heard on Zadar’s café terraces.

Mental preparation for the price of medicine

Food is expensive – cabbage is no longer what it used to be, and let’s not even talk about pork cracklings, reports Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT).

A Slovenian woman who has lived in Zadar for 60 years avoids going straight to the pharmacy after a medical examination because, as she says, she needs mental preparation for the price of medicine.

A young man from Zadar says he worked “for peanuts” His housing problem is yet to be resolved. He plans to turn to those who “hold the “purse strings” He knows how to tackle the problem of Croatia’s most expensive city:

“A message to employers – if prices go up, wages have to go up too,” he says.

Gloomy predictions from the sociologist

The hairdressers also note the purchasing power (or non-purchasing power) of women in Zadar. They say that people are coping with the high costs by not going to the hairdresser for a few months longer.

Life on the coast is becoming more and more of a luxury. And no, not everyone has a apartment to rent, as is often assumed. It is rather the inhabitants of Zagreb, whose salaries are on average 30% higher, and foreigners who are buying more and more property.

Zadar is neither the first nor the last city on the coast where the cost of living is rising. Anyone who relies solely on their salary knows that this is not easy. Sociologist Sven Marcelic predicts:

“We will live on the outskirts of cities, working in the service sector and be grateful that it is even possible to live like this and pay high costs. That’s something we can hope for.”