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In the last few months Croatia has been rocked by public demands for early elections. The protests, which have begun to fizzle out, took in everyone from ultra-nationalist military veterans to extreme left-wingers, says Boris Deulovi, a well-known Split commentator. He worries that they are a purely negative manifestation of discontent, "against the government, the opposition, the EU, NATO or whatever", and offer no alternatives.

Yet in Split the protests never reached the intensity they did elsewhere, says Miranda Veljai, a civil activist, because citizens have seen what happens when you wish a plague on the houses of all mainstream politicians. You end up with a mayor like eljko Kerum, an eccentric and flashy businessman who many see as Split's answer to Silvio Berlusconi. Mr Kerum owns a series of hotels, restaurants, supermarkets (pictured, above) and a television station, and is regularly accused of conflicts of interest and nepotism.

Ms Veljai (pictured) has been campaigning to save Marjan, the hill and forested park that abuts Split, and other endangered parts of the city from overdevelopment. People are unhappy, she says, that parts of the old town are gradually being emptied of locals and life, as rich foreigners buy up property. She fears that Split may meet the same fate as the old town of Dubrovnik, just down the Adriatic coast, which has become dead.