Although more people are moving to Istria than are leaving, residents of Pula and Istria, just like Slavonians, are departing from their homes. Due to intensified emigration in recent years, in one school year, two or three families leave a class, reports Glas Istre.
The most common destinations are Scandinavia, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Greece, Portugal… as well as more distant countries, while the reasons are financial, family reunification, and even adventure and love.
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From Štinjan, a settlement near Pula, almost someone has moved out of every other house in recent years. The situation can best be understood from the statement of one interviewee who explained firsthand what it looks like on the ground:
– My next-door neighbor left a few years ago with his girlfriend to Germany. The girl from the house next to him has been living in France for several years. The one across the street works in Austria as a qualified craftsman. There are families whose children are all in Germany, just as they once were. One Štinjan resident moved to – Greece a couple of years ago during the crisis! One of my college colleagues is in Scotland, several female colleagues and friends have been living and working in Belgium for years. However, perhaps the most shocking relocation I experienced was when a friend’s family moved to Germany. To reunite with their father who had been working there for several years, they packed their bags and left – mother, three children, two dogs, and – a canary!
