Openings and Closings of the Island

Anamarija Batista in conversation with Điđi and Pepe (Mate i Tonko Božanić) in Komiža in the summer of 2019. Goran Škofić video-recorded the interview.

Excerpt from the interview
P: Tourism was forbidden…
Đ: But it was allowed from 1964, 1965 to 1968. Foreign tourism was allowed too, then they blocked it for a while, and then…
P: They allowed it, yeah…
Đ: …in 1973, ’74, they opened the island for two years.  
P: Just two, yes.
Đ: Two years. And before that, before the ‘60s, or until the early ‘60s, the locals had to have an ID that served as a pass. You couldn’t come here from another town without the pass. We had these passports, I mean not we, but our… 
P: Like ID cards, yes.
Đ: …but our parents did. There was a green card. And your name was written on it.
P: Like an ID card…
Đ: …and your picture was on it.
P: Not just foreigners, also people who didn’t live on the island weren’t allowed to come here. 
Đ: Right. They had to apply for the pass, at the police station…  
P: And then…
Đ: And then, if they got the permission, then they could come here. 
A: In the period when foreign tourism was allowed in Komiža, it wasn’t allowed in Vis. Things were more rigid there, right?
P: Yes, there was always more military in Vis. 
Đ: Right. More military.
A: So, how was it from '74 to '76, were there any foreign tourists here?
Đ: Yes, there were. It lasted for two years, maybe three. And then they closed the island again, like they did before. And that was it. But the tourist season lasted a month or so, a month and a half, no more. 
A: Right. What about now, is the tourist season now longer? 
P: Well, yes, it’s longer.
Đ: No doubt, it’s longer, I mean… 
P: Nowadays tourist season here lasts 80 to 100 days.  
Đ: Right.