photo: Georgi Bidenko, PrahaIN.cz/Prague Airport
Prague enchants tourists from all over the world, who repeatedly come here for its unique architecture and cultural experiences. But another variety of people visit the capital of the Czech Republic for other reasons, which is why Prague is often referred to as a party destination.
However, the Prague City Tourism organization is optimistic in this case. In a press release last year, she stated that the capital is gradually getting rid of this label.
“It can be seen that the gradual change in the nature of tourism in Prague is paying off, but it requires systematic and long-term work. This conceptual work can be seen on the current data, and it is also true that Prague is losing its label as a cheap destination,” informed František Cipro, chairman of the board of Prague City Tourism.
But the so-called alcohol tourism will probably never be eradicated, despite the rising price of beer in Prague, it cannot be compared to other European capitals, and this is only one of several reasons why the capital is popular, for example, for bachelorette parties.
Shock at the airport?
Drinking alcohol, going from bar to bar at night, noise, sometimes even arguments and aggressive behavior. It is precisely against these evils that the leadership of individual city districts and the capital is trying to fight. It also helps Prague City Tourism.
In this context, we were contacted by a reader who sent us a photo of the Prague airport, where there is a large information sign. He recommends that visitors to the capital not make noise after ten o’clock in the evening. And he warns that failure to comply with this regulation can result in a fine of up to 400 euros, which is ten thousand crowns. This can shock some tourists right after arriving in Prague.
The website Prague.eu/enjoyrespect is listed on the advertising space.
Illustrated sign. Source: PrahaIN.cz reader
The average fine is around a thousand
And how much was collected last year and this year from fines for disturbing the peace at night?
“For violating the city’s ordinances, which also includes disturbing the peace at night, offenders face a fine of up to 10,000 crowns on the spot. In general – offenses can be solved in three ways – by agreement, fine or notification to an administrative body. The resolution of each misdemeanor is always at the administrative discretion of each specific police officer,” explains the spokeswoman of the Prague City Police, Irena Seiferová.
According to the press spokesperson, the amount of the fine should not be disproportionate to the harmfulness of the given illegal act, and in addition, several conditions must also be met for the imposition of a fine – the person accused of the offense must be present, must agree with the established state of affairs and the legal qualification of the act, and must also agree with imposing an administrative penalty, i.e. imposing a fine, as well as its amount.
“If these conditions are not met, the constable reports the whole matter to the administrative body for further resolution,” notes Seifertová.
The city police is said to have dealt with a total of 9,751 offenses against disturbing the peace last year, for which they imposed 684 fines in the total amount of 702,500 crowns. They reported 143 offenses to the administrative authorities and resolved the rest by agreement.
The average fine for disturbing the night’s peace thus rose to more than a thousand crowns.
Night Prague. Source: PrahaIN.cz
“For the first quarter of this year, we have dealt with 1,932 offenses so far, for which we imposed 135 fines in the amount of 120,700 crowns, reported 20 of them to the administrative authorities and resolved the rest by agreement,” informs the city police in Prague.
“It is true that we deal with the most cases of disturbing the night’s peace in the summer months, when the windows are open and sleeping citizens can be disturbed from their sleep in a quiet street by just a passing couple having fun together. It is not uncommon for us to receive notifications at one place even several times a night. We always check all notifications, no, but each one is also subsequently confirmed, because it is not reliably detected,” he adds.
