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Katerina Gadjeva
ing acguaintances" (Karlsson 1963: 27). In fact, the learning of foreign languages
(except for Russian, of course) was accessible to a very limited circle, almost entirely
connected to the authorities and the Communist party functionaries. In smaller
towns it was almost impossible to meet someone able to speak any of the languages
mentioned in the foreigners account. Egually guestionable was the responsiveness
of the Bulgarians he describes, having in mind the strict control to which citizens
of the socialist society were subjected and the possible problems that might arise for
them as a result of a seemingly innocent conversation with a foreigner.
The efforts of the authorities to hurriedly turn Bulgaria into a “Red Riviera”
were crowned with success. According to Balkantourist statistics, in 1960 the coun¬
try was visited by about 250,000 foreigners; in 1963 these were already 736,608;
and a year later over 800,000 visited, of which 46 percent came from socialist
countries and 54 percent from other countries. In that same year, 53,600 cars
crossed the national border, of which 43,118 came from nonsocialist countries—
and only 10,482 from socialist countries. Most tourists came from the German
Democratic Republic (35,672), Czechoslovakia (29,066), Federal Republic of
Germany (22,067), USSR (16,376), Poland (15 554), followed by Austria and
the United Kingdom (Bulgaria’s Relentless Progress 1964: 1). Publications in for¬
eign press were eloquent: “Throughout the Communist world, Bulgaria occupies
a position roughly equivalent to that of Florida in the United States: it is a place
to go for a seaside vacation. This Iron Curtain country has other attractions, but
for land-locked northerners or touring Americans longing for a tanning sun and
warm seas, the Black Sea cost of Bulgaria is the principal lure” (Underwood 1963:
29); “Sunny Beach, the newest Bulgarian seaside resort, is much like Miami and
Cannes, if not St. Tropez” (Lapiérre & Jarnoux 1963: 28); “Sunny beaches with
modern bustling resorts; impressive mountains with delightful little villages; ...
wonderful architecture and historical features and modern excellent roads; ... ex¬
cellent new hotels, open air theatres, night life; musical festivals, forests, lakes and
mineral springs with therapeutic power — there is no end to the holiday attractions
of just one small country. And I am not talking about any place you know! No,
it is not Switzerland, or Italy, or Spain or any of the usual holiday countries. | am
talking about Bulgaria. ... The beautiful Black Sea coast is rapidly becoming one
of the most popular pleasure spots” (Berry 1963: 28). Positive reviews of the Bul¬
garian coast were republished in every issue of the magazine Resorts in Bulgaria.
The magazine introduced the regular photo section “In Their Eyes”, highlighting
photos from foreign amateur photographers taken in Bulgaria. Beautiful girls, por¬
traits of children, sunbathing on the beach, old houses, and ancient sites prevail
among the published images. Admittedly all of them were meticulously selected to
serve the ideology best. In contrast to film, which had a more powerful but rather
short-lived effect on viewers, photography could incessantly hover in public space
and flow into every sphere of life. A photo is an image ad infinitum, capable of
being looked at, reproduced, and circulated again and again, speaking everyone’s