To understand what the level of a country and a city is, it is not necessary to visit its archaeological attractions, museums and libraries. It is enough to take a peek in the public toilets. It has long been the most accurate measure of civility. In this regard, Plovdiv, which claims to be a magnet for tourists, is a complete tragedy.
The comparison with European cities is even more depressing. In Frankfurt am Main, even 30 years ago, the WCs at the central station were as clean as pharmacies and necessarily scented, and on the highway in the middle of the forest they offered bath, soap, toilet paper. In Paris, they turned the oldest toilet, built in 1905 and later restored, into an attraction – with mahogany doors, stained glass windows, a mosaic floor and even a chair for shining shoes. In Vienna, the first WC for the people appeared as early as 1884, and now there are over 150, many of which are 100 years old.
Plovdiv claims to be the oldest living city on the Old Continent, it was also the European Capital of Culture. But with public toilets, we are light years away from most cities not only in the EU, but also in the world. In our ancient and eternal city
toilets are also a rare sight, they are also disreputable
or frankly dirty and you are faced with three options – either to squeeze as much as you can, or to ask for a favor in a restaurant, if there is one nearby and they let you go without consumption, or – shame not shame – you use the bushes.
Along the entire route of our long pedestrian zone (1.8 km) from Novotela to the central square, there is only one public toilet – on “Zhelezarska” street in “Kapana” quarter. It is the only one with an automatic entrance and was built on the site of the old urinal in 2018, when the mayor was Ivan Totev, and the head of “Cleanliness” – the current deputy mayor for ecology, Ivan Stoyanov. The pleasure is an Italian production and at that time it cost the city budget 180,000 BGN. The fee introduced then was Levche. The competition across the street, in the former Halli, asks for BGN 1.50 for the service.
The nearest toilet from this place is all the way to the Library in Tsar Simeon’s Garden, but often it is neither to be seen nor to be described – it is painted everywhere on the outside, but poorly maintained, with neglected and battered cubicles, with damaged cisterns, dirty sinks, cold water.
The God-pleasing establishment in the Old Town on “Saborna” Street looks even more nightmarish, moreover – only in the reserve. It’s half-dark and gloomy in the two-hole ladies’ room. Anyone who is afraid and enters must be very careful about surprises on the floor. We can’t even dream of soap and toilet paper, even though this run-down object is located in the cultural-historical center and on the most popular tourist route.
During the years of democracy
Slavcho Atanasov was the first and so far the last mayor,
who set out to give public toilets a European look. At his order, all the WCs in the center were thoroughly renovated, replacing the outdated plumbing installations, running hot water, painting the walls, buying new sinks and toilet bowls. The most luxurious was the toilet in the Tsar Simeon Garden opposite the Post Office, where they specially adapted one of the booths for the disabled, for mothers with babies – a small room with a cot for changing, instead of doing it on the bench.
Instead of praise, Slavcho received bitter mockery because he decided to have the most comfortable WC open ceremonially, and the organizers overdid it and brought cheerleaders.
Subsequent mayors, willy-nilly or not, obliterated the efforts of their predecessor. During the reconstruction of the Tsar-Simeon Garden, Slavcho Atanasov’s jewel was demolished, and in the spring of 2019 the local authority removed the cleaners who serviced the toilets, by selling tickets and supporting them. All working WCs made free – a kind of gesture to the voters for the upcoming elections. The main reason for this transformation was the loss of activity that the public toilets brought to OP “Cleanliness”, since pensioners, disabled people, mothers with small children had the right to use them for free, and some visitors were clever to steal the toilet paper.
After this turning point, the total decline of urban latrines began, whose unsanitary appearance is due to a certain extent to the low culture, sometimes equal to zero. The sweepers who maintain the areas around the toilets are responsible for cleaning them and locking them in the evening, but they do not have the ability to be constantly on alert. Not a single toilet has toilet paper or hot water anymore.
Of the more than 30 sites from the soca era, only a handful are open and still free, though most of us would rather pay for admission than fear contact and repulse the smells and squalor.
The service is most needed in the parks and on the hills,
but it is also deficient there. At the foot of Mladezhki hill, the old toilet has been closed since the dawn of democracy, on Bunardjika – also. At the end of the 20th century, there were public toilets on “Vasil Aprilov” Blvd., next to the UMBAL “St. Georgi”, in the garden next to the Filipovo station, which was paradoxically built up, in the green area of Stefan Stambolov Street in “Kyuchuk Paris”, in the famous park next to the “St. Petersburg” hotel, which the protesters turned a deaf ear to, saying it was municipal property to protect the green space from development.
The old public toilet on “Zhiten Pazar” square (Shahbazyan) remained under lock and key even after the reconstruction of the park. The brilliant project was filled with European money, but the latrine, considered unnecessary, remains ours.
Hiking with diapers or standing in line at restaurants
“How long will the tour last?”, “What will we see?”, “Where can we use the toilet?” – such questions are asked at the start of the Free Plovdiv Tour free tourist tours. And if the first two are answered quickly and comprehensively by the leaders of the groups, the third is of increased difficulty. “It happens almost every day. The tourist tour starts in front of the Municipality building and there are two options – either we send the foreign tourists to the chemical toilets at the back, which are quite unsightly, or to the nearby establishments, where they have to buy something,” he says Adelina Kalupchieva.
The entire Free Tour lasts about two hours, with the stops being: the Millo statue, the Roman Stadium, the Jumaya Mosque, the “Trap”, the Old Town, the Ethnographic Museum and the Ancient Theatre. According to the guide, only in some establishments in the “Trap” art district, no one frowns upon visits to the toilet by outsiders. In Jumaya mosque, the use costs leva. “It is most unpleasant if the need arises in the Old Town. There is only one toilet on “Saborna” Street. However, just by looking at it, tourists say they will squeeze,” says Adelina Kalupchieva. There is a toilet in the Ethnographic Museum, but you can only use it if you buy a ticket.
The problem with the lack of toilets is by no means unimportant, people from the tourism business are categorical. In a Swiss town, for example, the materials from the tourist information center go with a map on which the places with “friendly toilets” are marked. It is likely that the Municipality has concluded a contract with the specific establishments or their owners do not mind providing the service without the person being their client.
Two eco-cabins compete with the bushes in Lauta Park
Two lockable chemical toilets serve visitors to Lauta Park. One of the plastic booths is placed at the southern entrance, near the barbecues and playgrounds, and the other at the western entrance.
The eco-toilets are maintained by the private company “OO Yes”. Despite the provided toilets, however, unscrupulous visitors often relieve themselves in the forest. The area around two abandoned concrete buildings between the trees in the park is often used as toilets. Piles of used napkins in the most sheltered corners of abandoned buildings, dug into the ground, testify to this.
A favorite place for walking, big and small, is the forest in the park. The most overgrown places are the most favorite. You can quickly orient yourself for the place by the used napkins
Subways are the biggest free WC
The Plovdiv subways, whether passable or not, have become an alternative to the missing toilets around the city. When physiological needs are pressing, the first thing that comes to a person’s mind is to duck into the nearest underpass and relieve himself. The result – an indescribable stench and unimaginable dirt. All those subways that do not have concessionaires, that is, there is no maintenance, have become underground toilets.
The underground facilities on Tsar Boris the Third Unifier Blvd., Bulgaria Blvd., and Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd. have found themselves in this unenviable role. A pass through them costs a lot both to the eyes and to the sense of smell. Puddles of urine, feces, napkins, condoms and all manner of bodily fluids and scents are contained within just a few meters of space.
Both people who wave the white flag from squeezing, as well as drunkards in pubs and bums relieve their physiological needs in the subways. Since the abandoned subways also lack lighting, they become more than convenient for the purpose of sneaking out. For years, such manifestations have left deep traces. So much so that they cannot be erased even with a major repair.
Plovdiv residents, however, have learned how to deal with the nightmarish situation – either they successfully maneuver by jumping between the excrement, or they do not approach the subways at all. However, going to the godforsaken facilities on a whim is punishable. The lack of control leads to almost zero penalties, but this is a separate topic. Pursuant to municipal ordinances, lightening is subject to a fine between BGN 20 and 100, depending on where exactly it happens – in a green area, next to a monument, on a sidewalk, in an underpass, etc., and whether it is accompanied with another manifestation.
In Plovdiv, the application of such sanctions has not been heard of recently, but in other native municipalities they do not spit on each other. From the decision of the court in Gabrovo, for example, we read that a man was fined BGN 100 because he urinated on the fence of the field near the sports school. Faced with the court, the fined person justified himself with a lack of public toilets. However, the magistrates considered that this does not release him from elementary obligations to observe moral norms and ethical behavior.
