Bulgaria: A Tourist took a Bath in One of the Seven Rila Lakes

A woman went to bathe in the protected lake "Babreka" in the Rila mountains. Despite the ban on bathing in the Rila lakes, this is not the first such incident. However, it is difficult to identify and punish the perpetrators.

A photo of the woman bathing in one of the Seven Rila Lakes circulated on social networks for hours and caused a wave of negative reactions. Rila National Park found out about the case from a post on Facebook, since a call to the duty phone was never made.

"They went the place to check, but they didn't find anyone. It is not known how much time passed from the offense itself to the time they arrived at the scene. There is an effect only when they are caught on the spot, that's why timely signaling is very important so that we can react", explained the director of National Park "Rila" Krasimir Andonov.

However, the case is not unique. Alexander Grozdanov, who is a lodger, says that he often has to make a remark to unscrupulous tourists who decided to cool off in the lakes. He says that he and his colleagues make remarks to such tourists, but it leads to scandals because they do not listen to their words. He says they are harming nature this way.

"These lakes are extremely sensitive to human intervention. That's why you shouldn't go into the water," Andonov added.

Violators are mainly foreign tourists, who receive a penalty on the spot. However, by the time they are served with a criminal decree, they have already left the country, and the fine remains unpaid.

"Let's say today we catch an offender from Austria or from anywhere abroad, he may not be here tomorrow. The question is to devise a mechanism to serve them this criminal decree. Or that there should be information at the border points, in case of a possible return to the country, to establish that this person has fines that he should pay", explained Andonov.

The maximum fine for violators of the ban on bathing in the lakes is 5,000 leva (2,500 euros).

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