The price to park a car for one day in the luxurious coastal resort of Zlatni Pyasatsi (Golden Sands) is the same as that of a room for one night in a top-class hotel, located right next to the beach, Standart daily reported on August 15.

Tariffs at designated parking places vary between two and six leva an hour. For a full 24-hours it would cost 48 leva to park a car, if there are any spaces available in the cheapest car parks. At the same time, the price for a night in the four-star hotels Bolero, Ekselsior or Mimoza is reported to be 30 leva for a single room and 60 leva for a double.

If tourists can pay such high parking prices, those working in Golden Sands cannot. Special trucks for removing cars parked illegally or those that have not paid for parking, are going around the resort and also picking up the cars of traders and restaurant owners.

On August 13 shop, bar, and restaurant owners, who have to stock their shops on a daily basis from their vans, gathered at a press conference to protest against the parking situation in the resort. They formed an initiative committee, as a result of their rage against the paid parking places that apparently cover the entire resort.

The situation got out of control when, on August 10, a couple of women went to the garage where all the cars are taken after being removed. Apparently the garage staff verbally abused them after they requested a receipt for the fine they had to pay before they were allowed to take their car back.

The incident was reported by Plamena Miteva and Diana Kostadinova, who had to pay a 54 leva fine. On the previous day they left their van at the same place they always left it whenever they had to stock their shop. They had never had it removed before. Miteva, Kostadinova and another woman from Varna are considering filing a complain against the company Tet 61, which removes the cars in Golden Sands.

According to the initiative comittee, the trucks are picking up more than 50 Romanian cars on a daily basis, which is enraging the Romanian tourists and they are saying they will not return to Bulgaria.

Parkstroi-Zlatni Pyasatsi, is the company that contracted Tet 61 to remove any vehicles that were parked illegally. The official response by the Golden Sands’ management, to complaints that have already been filed, is that the removal of vehicles in the resort is done with authority from the local police and the regional directorate.

Members of the initiative committee said they contacted Tet 61 twice for comments about the recent incidents but have received no reply.

Parking at the nearby resort of St Konstantin and Elena costs four leva for a 24-hour period. The resort has two paid parking zones with 300 parking spaces near the Letovishte complex and the Chernomorets hotel. Next to the Grand Hotel Varna there is a free parking zone, apparently there is no free parking in Golden Sands. In St Konstantin and Elena the fine for illegal parking is 40 leva. In Sofia it is 30 leva.