News from Bulgaria

The European Commission records that Bulgaria and Romania became full members of the Schengen area on 1 January 2025, once checks on persons at the internal land borders had been lifted; at air and sea borders this had already happened on 31 March 2024. For the drive from central Europe to the southern coast this means that anyone travelling through Hungary and Romania and crossing into Bulgaria at Ruse or Durankulak no longer has a third-country border on the route. The route through Serbia and the Kalotina crossing, by contrast, has two external borders and therefore two points where queues build. Before departure the route deserves two questions: does it include a border with a non-Schengen state, and is there an alternative crossing for it. The return leg is checked at the same time, because a queue works in both directions.

Burgas municipality lists the issuing of a certificate of tax valuation for real property as service 2396. The fee is 5.11 euro, with 1.02 euro for each further property and 1.53 euro for each unfinished building. The standard deadline is five days, three days at double the fee and 24 hours at triple; an application filed before noon is served the same working day under the express procedure. Required are the application, copies of the title documents, for farmland additionally a certificate of current characteristics and a sketch, plus a power of attorney if the owner does not appear in person. One point matters for timing: a certificate issued up to 30 June is valid only until that date, one issued afterwards until the end of the year.

The regional utility ViK Burgas publishes, village by village, where water supply in the Pomorie district is restricted. For the village of Kosicheno it lists a daily 15-hour rationing from 18:00 to 09:00. The page also carries announced interruptions in the town of Pomorie itself, most recently on Friday 28 August in the area of the summer cinema because of a fault. Anyone viewing a property in the coastal hinterland should open this page before the preliminary contract, search for the place name and take the result into the negotiation in writing. A supply regime is no reason to walk away, but it belongs in the price and not in the first summer week after moving in.

The Municipality of Pomorie announces that the Director of RIOSV Burgas has issued decision No. BS-3-5/2026 under the environmental impact assessment procedure. It concerns the investment proposal for construction of a photovoltaic power plant on the plots with identifiers 57790.4.75 and 57790.4.76 under the cadastral map of the village of Poroy, locality „Chernitsata“, Municipality of Pomorie, together with an amendment of the PUP-PZ development plan for a photovoltaic plant for generation and storage of electricity on those plots; the developer is „EYPEYS“ OOD. The decision is published at www.riosvbs.com under Preventive Activity/EIA/EIA Decisions.

Pomorie municipality has published eight monthly reports: on cash budget execution, on accounts for third party funds, on funds from other international programmes, plus three reports on EU funds (cohesion and structural funds via the National Fund, the paying agency of the State Fund Agriculture, and other EU funds). A statement of overdue receivables and liabilities and an explanatory note complete the set. The notice is by Sofia Andreeva, dated 11 September 2026, and points to the municipality's Viber channel for further news.

At its session of 4 September 2026 Nesebar municipal council approved four detailed development plans in the Sunny Beach West resort complex; minutes No. 28 were published on 11 September. Plot UPI IV-290 in block 4402, cadastral identifier 51500.506.542, moves from resort construction to residential and resort construction with retail and services. UPI VI-483 in block 3305, identifier 51500.507.264, becomes residential construction with public services and on-site parking, while UPI XI-617 in block 401, identifier 51500.508.70, becomes purely residential. The parameters stay the same in all three cases: density 30 per cent, floor area ratio 1.50, height up to 15 metres, minimum green space 50 per cent. The fourth decision splits UPI XIII-268 in block 4901, measuring 2,000 square metres, into three parcels of 667 square metres each, identifiers 51500.506.594, 51500.506.595 and 51500.506.596; there the resort designation remains, with a height limit of 12 metres.

Assessment: The shift from resort to residential use changes who buys in Sunny Beach. Residential land can be used all year and sold to people who live there rather than only to holiday guests, which keeps service charges funded and makes resale easier. Density and green share stay unchanged, so the neighbourhood is not built up more tightly. Before any preliminary contract I ask to see the plan in force for the specific plot, because the parameters differ from block to block.

On 4 September Nesebar municipal council resolved on two public tenders. The first awards building rights on two municipal non-residential plots: UPI I-obsht in block 53a in Ravda with a starting price of 30,000 euro and UPI VIII-182,183 in Sunny Beach West at 24,446 euro, intended for a leisure and sports facility and an office building respectively. The second leases six shop units in the building with identifier 53045.502.593.2 in Obzor for five years, with annual rents from 1,290.24 to 2,856.96 euro including VAT and a participation deposit of 10 per cent. The same session approved two smaller sales of co-ownership shares: 230 square metres of plot 51500.58.3 for 1,877 euro and 80 of 680 square metres of plot 39164.502.686 for 3,458 euro.

On 4 September 2026 Nesebar municipal council, by decision No. 789, permitted the drafting of a detailed development plan for plot 39164.13.63 in the Drakta locality near Kosharitsa. The 22,876 square metres move from agricultural use into urbanised territory, the purpose being a 50 megawatt electricity storage facility. The legal basis is Art. 21 (1) 11 of the Local Self-Government Act and Art. 124a (1) of the Spatial Development Act. At the same session, decision No. 783 approved the acquisition of a ten-year easement for reconstructing the water main from the Kosharitsa-Kuchkarnika pumping station to the Hanska Shatra reservoir: 4,047 euro for plot 51500.200.8, 2,061 euro for 51500.201.227 and 833 euro for 51500.201.164, 6,941 euro in total. Nineteen councillors attended.

By order No. 2979 of 11 September 2026 Nesebar municipality awarded the property from the auction held on 4 September. The sale covers plot 51500.22.121 in the Bostanluka locality, uncultivated category eight farmland measuring 1,889 square metres. The price is 71,063 euro excluding VAT, roughly 37.62 euro per square metre. A local tax of 3 per cent, 2,131.89 euro, and a fee of 2 per cent, 1,705.51 euro, are added. The legal basis is Art. 86 (1) and (2) of Regulation No. 5 on the management of municipal property and council decision No. 697 of 5 May 2026.

Between June and August 2026 Eurocontrol counted an average of 35,959 flights a day in European airspace, 2.4 per cent more than in the previous summer. Albania, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia recorded increases. Traffic fell in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Türkiye. The figures cover whole countries and the entire airspace, not individual airports; the comparison says nothing about the number of destinations served from Burgas.

Assessment: On the southern coast, flight connections help decide how quickly a flat sells again and how long the letting season runs. The picture is currently splitting: the Adriatic and Greece are gaining, Bulgaria is losing volume. For owners this does not mean Burgas is losing connectivity, but that the next winter schedule announcement matters more than the summer review. On any connectivity question I look first at the number of direct destinations from Burgas, not at the European average.

For July 2026 the National Statistical Institute counts 925 accommodation establishments in Burgas district with 140,360 bed places, 2,876,601 overnight stays and 575,361 arrivals. Revenue reached 176.761 million euro, of which 125.660 million came from non-residents, who booked 1,937,585 of the nights. Nationwide, overnight stays fell by 5.4 per cent to 5.769 million and arrivals by 3.1 per cent to 1.456 million, while revenue rose by 11.4 per cent to 346.4 million euro. Bed occupancy dropped by 2.5 percentage points to 53.3 per cent and splits sharply by category: 67.7 per cent in four- and five-star properties, 45.1 per cent at three stars, 32.3 per cent at one and two stars.

Forbes Bulgaria reports on plans to double the tax valuations of Bulgarian property by the end of 2029: 30 per cent in 2027, then 35 per cent in each of the following two years. The valuation base has not been updated since 2007. The rate itself is set by each municipality within a band of 0.1 to 4.5 per mille of the tax value, and a statutory relief of 50 per cent applies to a main residence. The draft budget for 2027, which sets the frame, is expected at the end of October. No adjustment mechanism and no impact assessment have been published so far, and it remains open whether municipalities will lower their rates in return.

Bulgaria and Türkiye want to speed up construction of a second border crossing at Kapitan Andreevo. The new point will be built north of the existing crossing and is intended solely for heavy goods traffic; its proximity to existing infrastructure is meant to keep building costs down. Both sides declared themselves ready to sign the agreement within days and are setting up a joint expert commission for the technical specification. Kapitan Andreevo is the busiest land border in the EU. Upgrade and reconstruction work is running in parallel at the Lesovo and Malko Tarnovo crossings, the latter being the closest crossing to the coast from Burgas.

The state tourism administration and the Polish Chamber of Tourism are holding an industry forum in Bulgaria for the first time on 15 September 2026, at Sunny Beach. The administration names a target of 800,000 Polish visitors a year by 2029; Bulgaria currently ranks fifth on the Polish market. In organised travel the Bulgarian share rose in 2026 from 5.5 to 6.9 per cent, and in dynamic packaging to 7.5 per cent. The programme covers B2B meetings between Bulgarian hotels and Polish operators for the 2027 season. Co-organisers are the association of incoming agencies, the Melia Sunny Beach hotel and Fraport.

Assessment: Poland is the market with the clearest upward trend for the northern part of our area, and Fraport is not at the table by chance: more seats out of Polish cities feed straight into occupancy in Sunny Beach, Sveti Vlas and Nessebar. For landlords this means planning the shoulder season with Polish operators instead of relying on July and August alone. Anyone holding a property for letting should check whether its fit-out matches what tour operators require.

From January to July 2026 Bulgaria exported goods worth 27.145 billion euro, up 8.5 per cent, and imported goods worth 34.540 billion euro, up 13.7 per cent; the deficit reached 7.395 billion euro. Outside the EU the gap is widest at 6.411 billion euro. Imports from Türkiye grew by 35.5 per cent to 4.516 billion euro and those from China by 49 per cent to 2.950 billion euro. In July alone exports of 4.063 billion euro faced imports of 5.090 billion euro, a monthly deficit of 1.027 billion euro.

The Municipality of Pomorie has invited representatives of the tourism association and the local trade to an extended session of the advisory council on tourism on Friday, 18 September 2026 at 17:30 in the municipal art gallery Dechko Stoev. Two items are on the agenda: the results of the 2026 summer season and how Pomorie will present itself as a destination at the Eurovision showcase in 2027. The invitation is signed by Mayor Ivan Alexiev. It does not yet give season figures; these will be presented at the session.

The village administration building in Lozenets is back in operation after a full refurbishment. The interior, the facade and the equipment for staff and citizen services have been renewed. The handover took place on 11 September 2026 in the presence of Mayor Marin Kirov and other officials. The municipality does not state costs, construction time or the funding source in its notice. Lozenets is the second largest settlement of the municipality after Tsarevo and the point of contact for address registration, property tax and the waste fee for owners based there.

Mario Hosen on violin, Kristina Miller on piano and Claudius Baran on bandoneon perform works by Paganini, Piazzolla and Oscar Peterson on Friday 9 October 2026 at 19:30 in the NHK culture house in Burgas. The evening is part of the ninth Port Prim Art Fest, staged by Grand Hotel & Spa Primoretz with support from Burgas municipality. Tickets are available at the Chasovnika box office and through Eventim.bg, with information on 0894 898 098. The festival supports the city's bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2032.

By notice No. N2-UT-6695 of 10 September 2026 Nesebar municipality announced a draft amendment to the development plan for plot UPI IX-493 in block 2601 of Sunny Beach West; its cadastral identifier is 51500.507.291. The zone changes from «Ok» for resort construction to «Zhs» for residential construction, with the designated use following suit. The parameters remain unchanged: height up to 15.00 metres over at most five storeys, density 30 per cent, floor area ratio 1.50, minimum green space 50 per cent. The documents are available for inspection at the municipality's spatial planning department, 10 Edelweiss Street, third floor, room 35.

Assessment: The draft is the preliminary stage of what the council has already decided for three neighbouring plots, and it shows that the conversion in Sunny Beach West is not an isolated case. For owners in block 2601 the inspection period is the moment when an objection still achieves something; after that only litigation remains. I see this as an opportunity rather than a risk for buyers, because residential use widens demand. Anyone affected should inspect the draft in person, since the notice states neither a deadline nor a procedure for objections.

The municipality of Tsarevo is putting new street sweepers into service in Lozenets, Tsarevo and Ahtopol. They are financed from an EU project and from funds returned out of the charges paid to the regional environmental inspectorate. Further equipment is to follow step by step for the remaining settlements of the municipality, without a date being given. The municipality does not state the number of machines or their purchase cost in its notice of 10 September 2026.

On 8 September Pomorie municipality announced that two development plans for technical infrastructure had been published in State Gazette No. 80 of 1 September 2026. They rest on decisions No. 885 and No. 886 of Pomorie municipal council, minutes No. 53 of 23 July 2026. The first plan brings mineral water from borehole No. B-73 of the Medovo deposit to a hotel complex with outdoor pools, underground parking, a transformer station and its own treatment plant in the village of Medovo; the route crosses plots 47651.7.25 and 47651.7.127 over a combined 99.50 metres and encumbers 0.129 decares. The second plan secures the supply line over 205.97 metres on plot 47651.7.127 alone, encumbering 0.266 decares. Objections may be lodged within 30 days of publication, through the municipality, with the Burgas Administrative Court.

For the second quarter of 2026 the National Statistical Institute reports output of 8,272.6 euro per person employed and 21.2 euro per hour worked, a real increase of 3.1 per cent on the same quarter of the previous year. Employment stood at 3,661.8 thousand people and 1,428.3 million hours were worked. By sector, gross value added per person employed is 7,898.2 euro in industry, 7,298.4 euro in services and 1,305.8 euro in agriculture. The data are preliminary and were published on 7 September 2026.

Operator Fraport Twin Star reports more than three million passengers handled at Burgas and Varna combined since the start of 2026, even though Burgas only resumed flights in May: the runway was rehabilitated at a cost of over 60 million euro. Both airports record double-digit growth from Poland, Israel, Hungary, Slovakia, Belgium and France. Burgas added Rome to its network, and charter programmes from France are returning after a break of several years. Varna gained Athens, Barcelona, Budapest, Gdansk and Paris, with Basel following from October. For the full year the operator expects more passengers than in 2025.

The municipality of Burgas has closed the section of Lyuben Karavelov Street between Maria Luisa Boulevard and Debelt Street, including the junction with Debelt Street. The closure began on Monday 31 August 2026 at 15:00 and is planned to last four months, that is until the end of December. The reason is repair and resurfacing work on the carriageway. The municipality points to a temporary traffic scheme in the affected area and advises using alternative routes without naming specific ones. It gives no figure for the cost.

The foreign ministry's briefing note on the long-stay visa states that the application is submitted solely at the diplomatic or consular mission at the applicant's permanent place of residence, or at the mission accredited for that state. Anyone legally staying in a third country may apply there by way of exception, must set out the reasons and must guarantee return to the state of permanent residence. No exception is made from the personal interview. Under Article 15(1) of the Foreigners Act the visa is valid for up to six months with a right to stay of up to 180 days. For the residence permit that follows, the same note requires accommodation, compulsory health insurance and own means for the entire stay, at least at the level of the statutory minimum monthly wage or the minimum pension.

Assessment: This rule regularly costs buyers a trip. Anyone still in the country after the notary appointment who wants to file on the spot is turned away, because jurisdiction follows the place of residence, not the location of the property. In practice: the purchase can be completed on site, the visa application belongs at home and needs an appointment booked in advance, since the personal interview is mandatory. For buyers with two residences I check beforehand which mission is accredited, because waiting time and the document list depend on it. For an assessment of the individual case Svetlana draws on her local network of notaries, tax advisers and lawyers.

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank raised all three key rates by 25 basis points on 10 September, effective from 16 September 2026. The deposit facility rate now stands at 2.50 per cent, the main refinancing rate at 2.65 per cent and the marginal lending rate at 2.90 per cent. The new projections put headline inflation at 3.0 per cent for 2026, 2.5 per cent for 2027 and 2.1 per cent for 2028, and the rate excluding energy and food at 2.5, 2.6 and 2.3 per cent. Growth is projected at 0.9 per cent in 2026, 1.4 per cent in 2027 and 1.5 per cent in 2028, revised upwards for the first two years. The further course remains expressly data-dependent.

The National Statistical Institute released the construction output indices for July 2026 on 10 September. Seasonally adjusted, building work came in 0.4 per cent below June and civil engineering 0.5 per cent below. Against July 2025, adjusted for working days, building work stands 9.5 per cent higher and civil engineering 5.0 per cent. For the coastal strip the reading is straightforward: the year-on-year picture remains clearly positive while the month-to-month pace is levelling off.

The industrial production index fell 3.0 per cent in July 2026 against June, the National Statistical Institute reported on 10 September. Year on year, adjusted for working days, it stands 6.8 per cent lower. Mining, down 36.1 per cent, and manufacturing, down 7.3 per cent, carry the decline, while generation and distribution of energy rose 16.7 per cent. Within manufacturing, vehicle production fell 27.3 per cent and electronics 18.4 per cent, the sharpest monthly drops.

At the end of June 2026 Bulgaria had roughly 766,000 square metres of retail park space against roughly 811,000 square metres of shopping centre space, 1.58 million square metres in total, a split of 49 to 51 per cent. All 16,700 square metres of retail space completed in the second quarter were retail parks, and eleven further schemes across eight cities are under construction, totalling 131,000 square metres. Vacancy runs at 1.9 per cent in retail parks against 3.6 per cent in the capital's shopping centres, where rents stand at 48.50 euros per square metre and month compared with 13 euros. The figures come from the quarterly report by Cushman and Wakefield Forton.

Assessment: For coastal owners the finding is less exotic than it sounds. Retail parks are built where year-round purchasing power exists, and they are the most reliable early signal of local shopping provision in a residential area. Anyone assessing a flat in Burgas or along the Pomorie to Sveti Vlas corridor should look at what is being built within two kilometres: a retail park in walking distance changes winter lettability noticeably. With rents of 13 against 48.50 euros per square metre, it is also clear which format keeps growing over the next few years.

Modernisation of the Plovdiv to Burgas railway has passed 80 per cent physical progress, Flagman reported on 10 September. The scheme runs to more than 373 million euros and is co-financed under the Transport Connectivity programme 2021 to 2027. So far 309 kilometres of track and 51 kilometres of overhead line have been renewed, 24 level crossings have been closed and replaced by bridges or underpasses, and the 744-metre tunnel near Chirpan is complete. Once finished, passenger trains are to run at 160 and freight trains at 120 kilometres per hour. A further 78 million euros in the same programme is earmarked for five new trainsets.