Late at night, downtown Krakow transforms from its historic landmarks into a hub for ragtag nights, pub crawls and wild parties. Now, fed up with the mayhem, disgruntled locals are suing Poland’s second-largest city.
The lawsuit, filed this month with the backing of dozens of residents, accuses city officials of doing too little to combat noise, excessive drinking and other disturbances to the peace.
“Breaking the law has become a symbol of tourism in Krakow,” lawyer Ryszard Ridiger, the campaign’s architect, told AFP.
He likened the situation to one “not seen anywhere else in Europe”, saying tourists were behaving like “Tarzan of the jungle” with impunity.
The city of Krakow estimates it is on track to attract as many as 9.4 million tourists in 2023, but this is not the first time the city has faced a challenge from unruly visitors.
There were 6,800 police interventions in the city center last year, many of them related to drinking and vandalism, and two-thirds of those resulted in fines, according to city police spokesman Marek Anioglu.
“Heart of Darkness”
The lawsuit alleges the public nuisance problem is widespread throughout the Old Town, but residents point to Sczewska Street as the epicenter of the problem.
“Every day until 6 a.m., Shefska’s becomes a raucous gathering place,” the lawsuit states.
“The crowds sing, shout, fight and vomit without any regulation or effective response from the city authorities…The noise levels produced by the drunken mob exceed those permitted by law.”
Yang, a resident and club promoter, called Shefska the “heart of darkness” and said the initiative was a good move.
“The city should intervene in some way,” the 23-year-old told AFP.
Aside from the noise and disruption, Jiang said there was also competition between clubs to attract more late-night attendance, leading to street fights.
He recounted the story of a friend who worked as a promoter in Ševska but was forced to quit due to “huge trauma” from violence from rivals.
Even outside the city centre, late-night debauchery can be a problem for locals.
“I can’t walk quietly in the evening or at night,” says Veronica, a 25-year-old doctor.
“The peace is greatly disturbed.”
“City of the Polish Kings”
Krakow has taken steps to address this issue.
Mayor Aleksandar Misalski this week announced the appointment of a night officer and plans to set up a committee to look into the situation and come up with solutions.
Last July, the city became the first in Poland to ban alcohol sales between midnight and 5.30am, a move supported by more than half of the population.
Police say the number of interventions has halved in the first six months, and the number of drunk people being taken to sober living centres has also fallen.
For the past three years, the city of Krakow has employed “city helpers” during the high season – overnight volunteers who provide information to tourists and call police if necessary.
City authorities also launched numerous advertising campaigns aimed at disciplining outsiders and reducing public disorder.
“Of course we need tourists,” Jan says, “we just need the right laws to welcome them, no noise, no mess, no litter.”
What began as a public safety operation in 2021 later evolved into a campaign targeting Britons known for enjoying men’s nights out in Krakow.
While initial posters around the city urged residents and tourists alike to respect others’ space, “be well behaved” and “keep your belongings safe”, the latest campaign is more blunt.
“This is the city of the Polish kings,” the poster read. “It deserves respect.”
Reidiger said these “actions are a step in the right direction” but that it was “still very early days” in terms of addressing the problem.
“For many years, tourism policy has been ‘come, come, come,’ but it hasn’t laid out clear boundaries of what you can and can’t do,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)