The days between Christmas and New Year are some of the most magical of the year. Most people are in good spirits, having relatively light work schedules, homes full of seasonal treats and the chance to catch up with friends and family while remembering the past and looking ahead to the future. There’s much to recommend these days, and if you’re in Ljubljana, Maribor or Radovljica then here’s something else to add to the job: free street theatre in the evening to bring wonder and laughter to the faces of old and young alike, a celebration of real world performances in real time, instead of the recorded and virtual. The occasion is Ana Mraz, the annual festival that’s out on this time of year by the Ana Monro group, the team behind the summer’s huge Ana Desetnica programme, and the autumn’s fiery Ana Plamenita.

Ana Monro itself started almost four decades ago, when a group of performers in what was then Yugoslavia got together to organize their street actions and bring them to a wider audience. The group was named after a legendary, and fictional, figure. The story goes that a woman called Ana Monro was working in the tobacco factory in Ljubljana (aka Tobačna) during the day, and dancing at Nebotičnik in the night. Then she left the city and went to a forest, and came back with a manifesto for the theatre troupe that still bears her name. That group travelled around the world with their shows until it eventually disbanded as a performance troupe in 2012, although one member remained and continued with the work, leading Ana Monro to its current form as an association with a growing and evolving set of interests.

The summer’s Ana Desetnica festival of international street theatre is the main project the group is known for, but much of Ana Monro’s work remains unseen by the general public as it works to consolidate its position as the leading name in Slovenian street theatre, and an increasingly well-known one abroad. There are four pillars to the group’s current activities: the festivals, education, creativity, and international.

With regard to education, Šugla is a school for street theatre, while the group also visits regular schools and offers mentoring to emerging performers. The creative aspect of Ana Monro is being promoted with a corporate programme offering entertainment and team-building to companies, once again taking theatre out of it's usual context and brining it to new audiences. Finally, the international pillar is one that sees Ana Monro building bridges with other street theatre communities around Europe and beyond, taking Slovenian culture abroad, and bringing the world to Slovenia.

Your next chance to see the group in action is next week, from December 26 to 30. The shows in Ljubljana, the main venue, all take place in Špica, not far from the centre of town, and run from 18:00 to 20:00.

Each evening will see at least three different acts, suitable for all the family and mostly without the use of spoken language (with the performers coming from Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Belgium, Italy, the USA, Ukraine, Colombia and Ghana). Variety is assured, and while choosing one act to highlight is rather unfair we’ll turn the spotlight on Nanirossi & McFois, from Italy, festival favourites who are returning to town with an award-winning show that features a car. You can catch this in Ljubljana on the 27th and 29th, starting at 19:20. They’re also performing in Maribor, December 28 at 19:00 at Židovski trg. In fact, Maribor actually has a mini-festival of it’s own, lasting from December 27 to 30, starting at 18:00, while Radovljica’s Linhartov trg is playing host to two acts, both starting at 17:00 on the December 25 and 30. The full schedule for all three placs can be found here, while photos from last year’s event can be seen here.

In short, if you’re in one of these towns to see the lights in the days head then a trip to see Ana Mraz would be an excellent, and free, addition to the evening, and another element that helps make Slovenia so attractive at this time of year

STA, 21 December 2018 - Prices of residential properties in Slovenia kept rising in the third quarter of the year but transactions were few and prices of newly built homes fell, data from the Statistics Office show.

Prices of all residential properties in the third quarter increased by 1.9% on the quarter before and by 15.1% year-on-year.

Prices of newly built homes fell by 15.8% over the previous quarter and only 63 newly built residential properties were sold in the third quarter.

Prices of new flats dropped by as much as 19% quarter-on-quarter and prices of new family houses decreased by 1.5%.

However, year-on-year, prices of newly built flats were up 10.1% and prices of newly built family houses were 9.4% higher.

With 1,951 existing residential properties sold in the third quarter, prices of existing homes increased by 4.1% over the previous quarter.

Prices of existing flats in Ljubljana decreased by 1.8% in the third quarter, but were still 8.9% higher year-on-year.

Prices of existing flats in the rest of the country went up by 1.9% quarter-on-quarter, rising by 10.6% year-on-year.

Prices of existing family houses rose by 11.4% from the quarter before and by as much as 26.3% year-on-year.

All out stories on the real estate market in Slovenia are here, while our “properties of the week” are here

 A report by the Surveying and Mapping Authority, also issued today, showed that the number and value of real estate transactions in the first half of the year fell from record figures in 2017 but were still high.

The prices were still below the record levels of 2008, but inched very close after strong growth in the past year.

Around 17,500 real estate transactions were recorded between January and June, up from 17,400 in the second half of 2017 but down from 19,300 in the first half of 2017.

The combined value of real estate transactions in the first half of the year was EUR 1.16bn, up from EUR 1.19bn in the second half of 2017 but down from the record EUR 1.21bn in H1 2017.

Two-thirds of the transactions involved residential properties, flats (38%) and houses (26.5%). Commercial and industrial real estate represented 15% and building plots 10%.

Transactions in farmland and forests accounted for 3% of all transactions, while other types of real estate represented 7%.

Average price of a second-hand flats in the first half of this year was 6% up from the previous six months and 11% higher from the first half of 2017.

Compared to 2015 when prices bottomed out, apartment prices were up by 22%, while average prices were still 4% bellow all time highs of 2008. Prices of houses were 10% below the peak.

High demand has been driving up prices of residential properties in Ljubljana and on the coast with the average price of existing flats in Ljubljana rising above 2008 levels to EUR 2,770 per square metre.

High prices in the capital city, which accounts for one out of four apartments sold in the country, also drove up average prices of second-hand apartments in Slovenia, which rose to EUR 1,750 per square metre.

Trading in commercial properties has begun to stagnate and prices have been stagnating for the past three years.

Most transactions involved office space, with existing office space transactions accounting for two-thirds of all transactions in commercial properties.

Trading in building land has stabilised but prices are up. Most of the plots were bought for family houses. More than 20% of the plots were sold in Ljubljana and its surroundings.

More data on this topic can be seen at SURS

STA, 20 December - The construction of a northern expressway connecting the northern Koroška region to Slovenia's main motorway network and Austria's Carinthia is facing new delays, according to the latest timeline presented by the motorway company DARS on Wednesday.

Under the latest plans, an expressway between Velenje and Slovenj Gradec is to be built by 2026, which is a three-year delay compared to a protocol on the construction of the northern part of the Third Development Axis, signed by former Infrastructure Minister Peter Gašperšič last year.

In line with the protocol, work on the Velenje-Slovenj Gradec segment of the northern part of the major infrastructure project, whose goal is to connect to the national motorway network parts of the country without good links to motorways, was to start by the end of next year, but DARS's latest plans delay that by a year.

The segment connecting Slovenj Gradec to the Austrian border at Holmec was to be zoned by June 2020 but has now been delayed by another two years and a half, while the future of the segment connecting Velenje to the motorway remains unclear due to a constitutional review of the project.

"Such delays are unacceptable to us," said Aljaž Verhovnik, a member of a board overseeing the Third Development Axis project. He said that the board had rejected the new timeline.

"Apparently somebody has been misleading the public and the 100,000 people who depend on the project," he said and added that DARS was tasked with coming up with an acceptable timeline by 10 January. Otherwise, he and his initiative could call for civil disobedience.

Infrastructure Ministry State Secretary Nina Mauhler said that the ministry had tasked DARS with drafting "a new, more realistic" timeline by mid-January, because "we can hardly accept arguments for a three-year delay".

The delay has also been criticised by Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek, who said that Gašperšič had signed the protocol, which "sadly appears not to have been harmonised with the investor, DARS".

On the other hand, Gašperšič told the STA that the protocol had been harmonised with DARS, which however did not want to sign it, and that he was shocked to hear of the delays. "I believe the deadlines agreed in the protocol were realistic although approximate."

"But I certainly cannot imagine that a three-year delay could occur. It is the task of the ministry to carefully examine what has changed to allow such changes in deadlines," he added.

Similarly, the chair of the Third Development Axis board, Prevalje Mayor Matic Tasič, said that while DARS did not sign the protocol, it was the entity that "prepares proposals for the ministry".

However, DARS pointed out for the STA that it had not signed the protocol and that the deadlines set down in the document were unrealistic.

"Preparations for the construction and the construction itself is far more demanding than it had been imagined by non-experts at first. We have informed the ministry about it, which is why we did not want to sign the protocol," the company said.

It also said that the EUR 800m Šentrupert-Slovenj Gradec segment was treated as a whole. If the Constitutional Court decides on the Šentrupert-Velenje part in the first quarter of next year, the entire segment could be finished in 2026, it added.

In the meantime, activities for the construction of the Velenje-Slovenj Gradec part are under way and DARS said it was trying to follow the timeline from the protocol as much as possible. According to DARS, the 17.5km segment between Velenje and Slovenj Gradec is highly complex and includes the construction of several tunnels and 16 viaducts.

December 20, 2018

In 1861 the painter Ivana Kobilica, one of the most famous Slovenian artists of all time, was born in Ljubljana.

Ivana Kobilica managed to achieve what her male colleagues only dreamt of: she had several exhibitions at the prestigious Paris Salon and became an associate member of the French National Association of Fine Arts. She lived and worked in many of the European capitals, including Vienna, Munich, Paris, Sarajevo, and Berlin, but returned to Ljubljana at the beginning of the WWI.

After the so-called Munich period during which brownish colours prevailed in her paintings, purple, blue and green took over during her Paris period, which were joined by white during her Berlin phase. Her opus is characterised by depictions of family members and children, portraits of bourgeoisie of Ljubljana and, above all, flowers.

Many of her most iconic paintings are part of the permanent exhibition of Slovenian National Gallery.

Ivana Kobilica was also the only woman depicted on a 5,000 Slovenian Tolar bill before Slovenia switched to the euro.

December 19, 2018

Up until December 28 those who still believe in Dedek Mraz and fairy tales can see their faith rewarded in an enchanted forest near Škofja Loka, where various characters perform stories from classic tales on a stroll with various stops among the trees, with the last one being with Dedek Mraz.

To make it all the more believable you can print out an invitation letter for your kid, sent straight from Dedek Mraz himself. To make the visit even more unforgettable you can also bring along a gift that will make his or her eyes light up in wonder when Dedek Mraz seems to have found the perfect item to hand over (although note that gifts should be in an A4 sized giftbag with the child’s full name written on it, and that the gift should be given to one of the authorities – perhaps an elf? – 15 minutes before the show).

The schedule for the shows is every day at 15:00 and again at 17:00, apart from December 25, when the elves take the day off. The show takes about 30 minutes, is free of charge and no reservations are needed either. Parents can go along the trail with their kids or keep warm at the mama and papa elf’s cottage at the entrance, where hot drinks are available, if the children are big enough to manage the adventure on their own.

It’s time for another set of Slovenian memes (or jazjaz, as some say) to provide short, amusing texts as an aid to language learning, with these images drawn from the Internet, made by anonymous creators, and perhaps of dubious legality due to the EU’s notorious "meme-killing" Article 13. Under each there’s a translation, and you can find other articles in this series here, while a good Instagram to follow is Slovenian Memes.

Friend: Can I copy your homework?

Me: Yes, just change it a little so it doesn’t look the same.

Friend: OK

The boy in the picture found a bag with $15,000 inside. He took the bag to the police. I hope that my child is not this stupid

Girlfriend: Here's 20 euros to buy my dog a jacket, and if there's any money left over you can get some beer

When you're all ready to go out but you only have 10% battery

When I'm hungry and walk to the fridge

When your friend starts telling the same story for the 100th time

Him: I've never seen such a beautiful girl, you're wonderful!

Her: I know you're only after sex.

Him: Wow, you're smart, too.

When someone calls and I wait until it stops ringing so I can continue browsing on my phone

When you find a good meme and send it to a couple of friends

December 18, 2018

In 1970 actor the Stane Sever died in Ribnica on Pohorje.

Sever was a legend of the Slovenian theatre, television and cinema. He performed in many classics, including the first Slovenian talkie On Our Own Land (Na svoji zemlji), Good luck, Kekec! (Srečno, kekec!) and Vesna. In these movies Stane Sever played Drejc, a beggar and math teacher (Vesna's dad), respectively.

STA, 17 December 2018 - Prime Minister Marjan Šarec said during questions time in parliament on Monday that record keeping on foreigners in the country should be more detailed, so that foreigners will not be just numbers and that any abuse of the welfare system would be prevented.

Šarec was responding to a question by MP Zmago Jelinčič of the opposition National Party (SNS), who wanted to know how many foreigners are currently in the country, how many of them have working permits, where do they work and how many relatives each foreigner with a working permit has brought to the country.

Jelinčič said that by agreeing with the UN Global Compact for Migration Slovenia had opened the door wide to even more illegal migrants.

He said that one channel of illegal migration was Albanians coming to the country and the other were illegal migrants arriving through student or working visas, and shell companies.

Related: 1 in 8 residents of Slovenia is an immigrant

Data show that foreigners from Turkey, Pakistan and India are founding or buying companies with no employees in Slovenia, Jelinčič said.

The illegal migrants who come to the country either go further west or get a job, an address and request for social transfers, which they receive.

Jelinčič asked Šarec if he was aware of such abuses of the system and how the government plans to act against "this type of crime and illegal migration."

The prime minister presented official statistics, saying that 172,073 foreigners had a residence permit in Slovenia on 30 November, of whom 27,666 people were from the European Economic Area and Switzerland, and 14,407 from third countries.

According to the latest figures by the Employment Service, a total of 39,260 working permits have been issued this year.

The prime minister explained that not all citizens of third countries who live in Slovenia need an additional permit to get a job, start a business or work in Slovenia in addition to the work and residence permit.

He said that it was difficult to check whether a person actually lives at their address and that changes were absolutely needed here.

Related: The places where foreigners live in Slovenia and where they come from

"More will need to be done to keep good and accurate records, so that people will not be just numbers, which allows for abuses of the system, especially with welfare benefits," Šarec said.

On 30 November, the number of valid temporary residence permits due to family reunification stood at 11,692, Šarec said, adding that no records were kept on the family relations of the foreigners who receive temporary residence permits due to family reunification.

Šarec said that 18,600 foreigners received child benefits this year, which is 6.1% of all rightful claimants.

Jelinčič said that the UN spoke of 244,800 migrants in the country and the OECD of 340,000 people who were not born in Slovenia, so he proposed a parliamentary discussion on the issue. The National Assembly will decide on this on Wednesday.

STA, 14 December 2018 - The Council of Europe and UNESCO are urging against violence towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender individuals at schools in their latest report, which shows that in Slovenia 43% of young people were subject to this type of violence in 2014.

This can be psychological, physical or sexual violence that happens on school grounds and also on-line. Its most frequent forms are verbal violence and harassment, the CoE says in the report.

Such violence targeting members of the LGBTI community was detected in all CoE countries, most notably in Turkey (67%) and Belgium (47%).

In the section on the situation in Slovenia, the report refers to a 2013 research carried out by the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency.

The survey showed that 59% of the 636 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons "always" or "frequently" heard negative remarks about their classmates' sexual orientation or sexual identity and 30% of them are "always" or "frequently" the targets of such remarks themselves.

All our stories tagged LGBT can be found here

The report also refers to the 2014 survey in which 42.8% of respondents aged between 15 and 30 years reported of at least one experience of a homophobic attack during their education.

Slovenia is among the 32 CoE members that have explicitly banned discrimination based on sexual orientation at schools and is one of the 24 CoE countries that have explicitly banned discrimination based on sexual identity in education.

In 2016, the Slovenian anti-discrimination legislation expanded the list of the types of discrimination banned to discrimination based on sexual identity, while discrimination based on sexual orientation is banned by the Constitution.

The report released on Thursday is based on responses of public sector employees from 35 CoE member states.

The full report, in PDF form, can be read here

December 17, 2018

In 1931 the fourth tram line started operating between the train station and Vič in Ljubljana. Part of the route went through Šelenburgova street (today’s Slovenska), which had as a result moved Ljubljana’s main promenade to Aleksandrova street (today’s Cankarjeva), between the post office and Tivoli Park.

At the beginning of the 20th century Ljubljana’s promenade began on today's Čopova street then went past the post office on Slovenska, through Congress square (Kongresni trg) and back to the Town Square (Mestni trg). With the change of venue to Cankarjeva after the new tram line, it got an extension to Tivoli Park and even further for meetings and assignations that would prefer some privacy.

The promenade was a place to meet and debate, but also a place to show off. Hats, gloves and walking sticks were a mandatory part of a gentlemen’s outfit.  It started after 4pm during the week and after 11am on Sundays, when it was especially ceremonial and classy, with a brass band playing and the  best fashions of Ljubljana on display.

The promenade disappeared completely at the beginning of the 1960s, when the streets became jammed with traffic rather than walkers, and the citizens of Ljubljana begun spending their days off outside the city in the coastal towns of Piran and Portorož.