site.btaBulgarian Camper Society Calls for Complete Withdrawal of Contemplated Camping Regulation

The Bulgarian Camper Society (BCS) Monday called for complete withdrawal of the Black Sea Coast Spatial Development Act concerning the temporary placement of tents, campers, and caravans. BCS described the draft as inadequate to the Bulgarian reality and European practices, leading to banning camping, and not regulating the sector. 

The Bulgarian Camper Society is demanding a notification regime for creating camping sites, a 72-hour allowance for small temporary camps, a centralized platform (a camping app through which waste collection fees would be paid), a national program for camper stops, and clear environmental rules following the No Trace Camping model.

The draft regulation was published for public consultation in the Public Consultation Portal on July 1. The temporary sites for placing tents, campers, or caravans would not be classified as campsites under the Tourism Act. They could be designated in state, municipal, or private properties, in forest territories, in agricultural land, or in undeveloped urban areas, without changing the land-use designation, according to the draft.

The draft foresees that such temporary camping areas would be authorized by the mayor of the respective municipality for up to three years, within the time frame from May 1 to September 30.

At the beginning of July, the Bulgarian Camper Society announced that it was preparing to hold protests in opposition to the draft regulation.