Writing about “film-inspired holidays”, the Observer recently posed the question, “Vis island, Croatia: how can I resist your Mamma Mia charms?” My answer: it’s impossible. How can you resist something you love?

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Vis is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the Adriatic Sea, and it takes more than two hours by ferry from Split to get there. Once you finally get close, the island rises out of the sea like a natural fortress defying both nature and time.

In these days of hyper-acceleration and presenteeism, time seems to go in the opposite direction here. And the more time you spend here, the more you will get acquainted with the island’s particular philosophy of life: pomalo. It’s a greeting you will hear on the streets (meaning “take it slow”) or a casual answer you will get when you want to make an appointment (usually meaning “let’s see”).

“I am at the Adriatic Philippines,” wrote the great Croatian poet Tin Ujević of his trip to the island in 1930. “I find myself in the deep heart of the deep sea. It was the fairies themselves who brought me here, on an unknown date when the globe fell asleep and no one could see me. I am in the empire of adventures, in the miracle of events. I finally experienced what the world has forgotten. And I became the owner of a mystery.”

It seems the mystery of Vis is both the philosophy of pomalo and the fact that it was always, throughout its history, distant enough to be able to remain mysterious yet at the same time at the centre of events. This goes back as far as the 4th century BC, when it was a Greek colony called Issa, and takes in various historic naval battles, fascist occupations and antifascist liberations – and its most recent history. Up until 1990 it was the base of the Yugoslav army: foreign tourists were not allowed.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Two hours by ferry from Split, Vis rises out of the sea like a natural fortress, defying both nature and time.’ Photograph: Peter Adams/Getty Images

Vis may have been called the Adriatic Philippines because of its beauty, but during the second world war, when Tito and the Yugoslav partisans used it as its central base, it was called the Adriatic Malta. During the 1990s, after the break-up of Yugoslavia, most of the antifascist monuments were damaged or destroyed, but even today on the streets of the Vis town of Komiža you can find partisan graffiti from 1944 saying: “Vis has to become the other Malta.”

However, is it still possible – as the poet put it during his mystical trip to the island – to experience being forgotten by the world while on Vis?

Now that the sequel of Mamma Mia! has premiered in the UK and across the world (including at two open-air cinemas on Vis), you can already find tourist ads entreating holidaymakers to “book the ‘Mamma Mia!’ beach”. The remote and mysterious island is suddenly becoming known to the world because it has been used as the imaginary island Kalokairi in the Abba-inspired Hollywood musical.

To see what happens when Hollywood fiction penetrates the real life of a local community, it is useful to look at the tragic fate of the Greek island Skopelos, which served as the location for the first Mamma Mia! film. The movie was one of the highest-grossing films, and fastest-selling DVDs, of all time. And tourists from all over the world invaded the island. Prices skyrocketed, hotels were booked up months in advance, bars and restaurants were packed – and beaches were occupied by Abba fans. For locals, the island has turned into a nightmare. Property coming on to the market is quickly snapped up by investors – and the cost of everything has soared. People have been priced out of living on their own island.

Is this the destiny now awaiting Vis?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Greek island of Skopelos served as the location for the first Mamma Mia! film. Soon after, the price of everything soared. Photograph: Nicholas Pitt/Getty Images

Only a few days ago, after Croatia played in the World Cup final, Google searches for “Croatia” increased to the highest level in history. Many of the articles about the World Cup or Mamma Mia! have ended with the question “Croatia, your next holiday?” But instead of being a boon, tourism in Croatia is part of the problem. With almost 20% of Croatian GDP connected to tourism – by far the highest in Europe today – there is no substantial alternative that could keep the country going. Summer – and tourism – is the only motor that keeps Croatia’s devastated economy running.

Vis island, Croatia: how can I resist your Mamma Mia charms? Read more

It is difficult to resist something you love. It’s even more difficult to witness something you love being ruined by becoming too popular. Yet perhaps the island of Vis and its inhabitants will, as they always have, find a way to resist – and turn even Mamma Mia! to their own advantage.

• Srećko Horvat is a philosopher from Croatia. With Yanis Varoufakis he is one of the founders of the Democracy in Europe Movement