New party district in downtown Budapest on cruise ships: locals outraged

A new “floating” party district is being formed in Budapest on the party and tourist boats commuting on the River Danube. However, many locals believe authorities should restrict such journeys, and a local government already accepted countermeasures. But it seems they will not be able to turn their decree into reality.

According to rtl.hu, a new party district is being formed step by step on the Danube banks of Budapest. A lot of boats commute there every day, and many of them offer all-you-can-drink promotions. That means passengers drink a lot during their journey and get drunk. After they leave the ship, they use the parks of the 13th district as toilets.

The problem concerns mainly the Szent István Park. Although there is a company which already terminated its late night journeys (beginning at 10 and 11 PM), drew the attention of the passengers on moderate alcohol consumption with audiovisual tools and promised to replace their drinks with less-alcoholic ones, that is not enough for the raging locals.

Therefore, the municipal council of the 13th district of Budapest decided to introduce drastic measures. They reduced the permitted port and boat number between the Árpád and Margit bridges. Based on the new decree, there can be only 15 ports with 30 boats. Currently, those numbers are 25 and 50 or more. The decree will come into effect from 1 August, but will be hard to implement.

Here is a photo of the Danube segment concerned:

Photo: facebook.com/budapest13kerulet

Zsolt Varga, the secretary of the Hungarian shipping association MAHOSZ, said the number of boats is not determined by a local but by a government decree. And that cannot be overwritten by an inferior rule.

From 1 August, nothing will change immediately, the local government of the 13th district admitted to rtl.hu. However, later, that may change since there are yearly permissions, and authorities should consider their new rule during the procedure. The local government of Budapest agreed with that legal and practical standpoint.

Local NGOs believe the 13th district struggles with air pollution because of the many boats. Meanwhile, boat companies point to the car owners and drivers. Mr Varga said the boats waiting at the ports do not consume fuel because their electricity supply is no longer provided by generators thanks to recent development. Varga added that the capital had a lot of revenue after the boats commuting or just being moored on the Danube because they pay high port use fees.

Therefore, the survival of Budapest’s “new party district” needs the consent of the local government and the boat companies.