Taken together, the data shows that since 2006, Malta has lost at least 1.94 square kilometres of green land. The largest shift appears to be after 2012, which accounts for 90% of the land lost in the period under review.

Explore the map

According to the European Environment Agency, “the continuous loss of ecosystem functions renders [Europe] increasingly vulnerable when it comes to food self‑sufficiency and natural disasters”, and that going forward, governments should protect the most productive land from development.

A patchwork of strategies and plans governs development that converts natural or agricultural land into built-up areas. Sustainability goals exist in the Development Planning Act and local plans, but regulation, starting from the PN government’s rationalisation exercise in 2006, has allowed limited green spaces on the islands to be developed.

The government, in turn, is one of the largest developers of green land into grey space, contributing at least 112,467 m2 through prominent projects like the Hal Far expansion, Central Link, Addolorata cemetery, and airport runway expansion.

The Development Planning Act

The Development Planning Act includes a non-enforceable declaration that “It shall be the duty of the Government to enhance the quality of life for the benefit of the present and future generations” and “to consider public values, costs, benefits, risks and uncertainties involved when taking any decisions”.

The Act states that “In the pursuance of its functions under this Act, the [Planning] Authority shall, as far as possible, make reference to European Union best practices and standards”. The EU has set a goal of no net land take by 2050, which means no further increase in the share of land converted from natural to artificial surfaces. This means new land can still be built up, but it would need to be compensated by recultivating other built-up land.

The same law also stipulates that “no development shall be carried out except with development permission”. Development is defined as “building, engineering, quarrying, mining or other operations for the construction, demolition or alterations” or the making of any material change in use of land or building and sea, with limited exceptions such as maintenance. 

But the Act also opens a pathway to regularise development carried out without permission. A parliamentary question asked in 2023 revealed that over 2,000 illegally built structures were sanctioned between 2013 and then.

Moviment Graffiti and the local council challenged the Qala development mentioned earlier partly on the grounds of its negative impact on agricultural land. The court accepted the challengers’ arguments that agricultural use should be retained, and called the earlier tribunal’s reasoning that other uses, such as recreational pools, are permissible because they are not excluded by policy, “absurd”. For this reason alone, the court upheld the appeal, finding that the development was not permissible and the encroachment into agricultural land should not have been allowed.

A fresh application to sanction two pools in the same development is pending. 

In response to Amphora Media’s questions, the developers’ spokesperson said that “the land in question was already scheduled for development. The choice was therefore not between development and leaving the site in its natural state, but between one comprehensive, coordinated development and the possibility of approximately 40 individual plots being developed separately by different owners over time. We are very proud of the resulting development.”

The spokesperson added that “the relevant fines are being contested and we are currently pursuing the applicable sanctioning process” and that the developers “do not accept the characterisation that [the pools] were simply “illegally developed”, particularly while […] comparable pool developments on ODZ land have been permitted or sanctioned elsewhere in Malta and Gozo.”

Strategies, policies and plans

The entire territory of Malta is to be developed according to a Spatial Strategy. Local plans are adopted to manage development where that strategy is not enough.

In the early 90s through 2006, the government adopted policies and plans to regulate development in rural settlements outside the development zone (ODZ). The Rural Policy and Design Guidance, adopted in 2014, explicitly allowed expansion of buildings and introduction of enterprises in rural areas. The policy conflicted with adopted local plans, and in 2024, the government began revising the plans to avoid such conflicts.

The guiding principles in plans and strategies are written to safeguard localities from encroachment by construction. For example, the 2006 Gozo and Comino Local Plan stipulates that the overall strategy on these two islands encourages development that “improves the quality of life and the environment”, “is compatible with surrounding activities”, and “does not constitute over-development”.

“The extensive rural areas in Gozo and Comino require protection measures, and this is achieved by restraining further urban expansion, by protecting areas of conservation value and by designating strategic open space gaps between existing settlements,” the plan continues. 

As developments such as structures in Qala, which build over such open space gaps, suggest, expansions of built-up areas are approved anyway. 

Adopted in 2015, the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED) allows “social and community facilities” for education, health, and care for elderly people, among others, to be located in rural areas where “no feasible alternatives exist” in urban areas.

The Planning Reforms 

In 2020, the government changed the fuel stations policy, capping their total number and effectively banning new fuel stations on agricultural land. Extensions of fuel stations outside development zones are no longer permitted.

Earlier in July, the government announced a planning reform by which, when a development permit is subject to appeal, works must be suspended for the appeal’s duration rather than being allowed to continue or even be completed while the appeal is pending. The reform also introduces time limits for considering appeals: a tribunal must convene within 30 days of works being suspended and take no more than six months to reach a decision. Critics have pointed out loopholes in the reform.

Unveiling the reform, planning minister Jonathan Attard said it was proof that “the political commitments we have made to the people are being turned into concrete action, by placing quality of life, public trust and the rule of law at the heart of the planning system.”

The pattern is not one of missing rules, but of rules with built-in exits. The Development Planning Act’s duty to protect quality of life is declaratory and cannot be enforced against the Authority. SPED permits community facilities on rural land where no urban alternative is judged feasible. The Rural Policy and Design Guidance allowed rural buildings to expand in conflict with local plans, until the plans were revised to match. And where building happens without permission, the Act provides a route to regularise it: more than 2,000 illegal structures were sanctioned between 2013 and 2023.

“The countryside and coast remain two of the most important natural resources to conserve and protect from inappropriate development,” the 2006 Gozo and Comino Local Plan reads. It did not protect the agricultural land.

Agriculture is an environmental double-edged sword. On one hand, it is Europe’s largest contributor to biodiversity loss. On the other, half of all species in the EU rely on agricultural habitats. 

According to the European Environment Agency, conversion of natural or semi-natural land (it includes cropland) into artificial surfaces “reduces ecosystem resilience by fragmenting landscapes, decreasing carbon storage and biodiversity capacity, increasing flood risk through higher surface run-off, and intensifying heatwave impacts in urban areas” while also decreasing quality of life.

A new investigation by Amphora Media, guided by Arena for Journalism in Europe and supported by The Malta Environment Foundation, reveals that Malta lost nearly 830,000 square metres to construction between 2018 and 2023. Since 2006, Malta has lost at least 1.94 square kilometres of green land.

Explore the map

A deep learning image recognition model compared satellite images over time and flagged land that appeared developed from above, with journalists manually removing incorrect data.

When reviewing satellite imagery, Amphora Media’s team found land in rural areas that was used for parking cars, boats, and other scrap material, unable to serve its ecological function.

Between 2012 and 2018, around 920,000 square metres were taken up, according to the European Environment Agency’s estimate. 

Figures show that in nearly 95% of the take-up, farmland rather than natural area was affected. Around 26% of the Maltese islands’ area is covered by artificial surfaces, and almost 15% is built up as of 2022. 

“We cannot continue to sacrifice agricultural land for short-term economic gains,” BirdLife Malta, an environmental NGO, said in response to a new agricultural policy document earlier this year.

Agricultural land in the city to be built over

Concerns about the loss of agricultural land boiled over again in a discussion about an application to develop a plot in Swatar, a highly urbanised area. 

“Once again, the Planning Authority has chosen to side with developers instead of protecting the environment and the quality of life of residents,” the Momentum party said in a press release, reacting to the approval of the planning application.

“Beyond its agricultural value, this space plays an important role in the daily lives of residents. It offers a sense of openness in a dense urban environment, supporting both physical and mental well-being. It also serves a critical environmental function by absorbing rainwater runoff, helping to reduce flooding risks in surrounding areas, particularly in Msida,” Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, an environmental NGO, said

Agricultural sector in decline

Declining farmland goes hand in hand with Malta’s dwindling agricultural sector.

Between 2018 and 2023, Malta produced nearly 8% less vegetables and 12.3% less fruit (by weight). Between the two last agricultural censuses, 2010 and 2020, Malta lost nearly one in six agricultural holdings and over 6% of utilised agricultural land.

When development competes with agricultural land, its prices only rise. According to the latest agricultural census, Maltese farmers have 10,731 hectares of farmland, and about half of it is rented from the government. Land purchase prices in Malta are by far the highest in the EU.

“In Malta, one of the smallest countries in the world, land comes at a premium, and access to land is very limited. So if you have a new farmer, it’s almost impossible to enter the sector because they don’t have access to land and water,” Malcolm Borg, who leads Ghaqda Bdiewa Attivi, told Amphora Media in a previous investigation.

Despite farmers asking for help to afford land, Amphora Media’s earlier investigation has shown that funds earmarked by the EU to support farmers are routinely directed to road-building in Malta.

Cover image by: Joanna Demarco

Among the 20 largest pieces of land to be developed, the government is responsible for developing at least 112,466 m2 of land, roughly 13% of the total developed from 2018 onwards.

Explore the map

This analysis did not examine the circumstances of planning application approvals and focuses only on land-use change. There is no implication of wrongdoing.

These developments chip away at cropland and natural areas, making Malta one of the top countries in Europe for land loss to development.

Amphora Media has examined some of the largest land take-up projects. The research was based on analysis of satellite imagery [link to methodology]. 

No. 1 – Ħal-Far Industrial Estate – 32,948 m2

The plot is located within the Ħal Far Industrial Estate, managed by INDIS Malta, and has served as an industrial zone for decades. Back in 2018, this particular piece was an undeveloped field, and the converted area makes it the largest land take-up during the analysed period.

In 2022, Minister Silvio Schembri announced the relocation of Elepac Ltd’s factory to Hal Far. In 2024, the company applied to convert part of its factory to a waste management operation. According to reports, the land footprint was smaller than at the factory’s previous location.

In response to Amphora Media’s questions, INDIS Malta said that “INDIS Malta has never converted Outside Development Zones (ODZ) for industrial purposes. On the contrary, it has actively released thousands of square metres of land previously designated as industrial back to the Lands Authority so that they can be reverted to ODZ.”

No. 2 – Concert Grounds in Ta’ Qali –  24,131 m2

Concert Grounds in Ta’ Qali was the second-largest expansion of built-up area, although satellite images show paths and structures in the area as of 2018. A permit to build concert facilities was granted in 2021 and included landscaping.

The Parks in Malta website describes the area used for concerts in Ta’ Qali as “previously derelict” and since transformed into “soft and hard landscaped spaces”. For prominent concerts, the location is indicated as Ta’ Qali National Park.

Instead, as reported in the media, the government has controversially paved gravel over a large picnic area within the adjacent national park, raising concerns about its impact on the soil, the material’s suitability, and its cost.

No. 3 – Addolorata Cemetery – 23,848 m2

The expansion of the government-owned Addolorata cemetery was the third-largest land take-up identified in the data. In 2019, Chris Fearne, then Minister of Health, announced the cemetery extension, adding 2,880 new graves.

No. 4 – Mqabba Quarry – 20,692 m2

The Mqabba quarry is the fourth-largest development. The plot, identified on Google Maps as Sier and Sons, is licensed for handling inert and excavation waste, among other activities. 

Quarries are included in the data as they are disturbed land that no longer supports ecosystems, and quarrying, alongside mining, is mentioned as development in the Development Planning Act.

No 5: Central Link Project 19,136.1 m² (combined two sites 6,586.46 m² + 12,549.64 m²)

Road expansion in Attard for the Central Link project, across two areas, was one of the largest intakes. 

Environmental groups had challenged the project in court and lost. Meanwhile, Infrastructure Malta insisted that the project would “halve travel times” and bring “better quality of life for thousands of residents”.

No. 6 – Shoreline Mall – 19,067 m2

The Shoreline Mall has occupied what used to be coastal land. Complete with trampolines and wall climbing, and home to a Starbucks and numerous global clothing brands, the mall is ultimately owned by five businessmen.

No. 7 – Quarry in Dingli 18,116 m2

Satellite image shows how fields were replaced with a busy developed site with stripped topsoil. 

No. 8 –  Estate – 17,612 m2

The estate, home to General Maintenance Ltd, an engineering company, and MaritimeMt, a training academy for maritime professionals, was once a field.

No. 9 – Gozo Plot –  16,425 m2

[Updated] The Gozo plot, which used to be covered with fields, was indicated as hosting Malta Rescue Corps, an emergency response organisation. When contacted, the organisation sent the following correction: “We would like to clarify that the location indicated […] is incorrect. It had been marked wrongly, and this was updated [On Saturday 12 September].”

No. 10 – Quarry 15,147 m2

Land covered in fields has seen apparent quarry expansion. ERA lists six quarries in the area.

No. 11 – AX Centre in Mosta –  14,719 m2

A field surrounded by development has become the AX Business Centre in Mosta. AX Group calls this development “sustainable” and “eco-conscious”.

No 12: Antoine Camilleri block in Naxxar – 14,552 m2

A large area of rural land in Naxxar is being turned into a 6-floor development with underlying garages. Developed by Antoine Camilleri with Onyx.

The development entered the news earlier this year after the threat of a major collapse saw residents evacuated.

No. 13: Qala ODZ-Pools – 13,751 m2

The Hal Wardija resort apartments complex in Qala has replaced fields that broke up a heavily developed landscape in Gozo. The area is marketed to tourists as “quiet”.

This development consisted of separate applications to build garages and apartments. Pools were built illegally and then sanctioned, but a court later revoked that decision. Excel Investments Ltd filed the applications; it is co-owned by Daniel Refalo, Joseph Portelli, and Mark and Joseph Agius, and the fines for the illegal pools remain pending. A new application to sanction two pools is pending. 

ERA had objected to this development, given its ODZ encroachment, and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage noted with “grave concern” that the development was irreversibly changing the rural area.

In response to Amphora Media’s questions, the developers’ spokesperson said that “the land in question was already scheduled for development. The choice was therefore not between development and leaving the site in its natural state, but between one comprehensive, coordinated development and the possibility of approximately 40 individual plots being developed separately by different owners over time. We are very proud of the resulting

development.”

The spokesperson added that “the relevant fines are being contested and we are currently pursuing the applicable sanctioning process” and that the developers “do not accept the characterisation that [the pools] were simply “illegally developed”, particularly while […] comparable pool developments on ODZ land have been permitted or sanctioned elsewhere in Malta and Gozo.”

No 14:  Airport runway expansion – 12,403.86 m²

This rounds up the largest land use changes on government sites (Central Link, the cemetery, the industrial estate expansion, and the concert grounds).

No 15: Villas and Apartments in Attard: 12,069.56 m²

A large green area in Attard, located behind the American Embassy in Ta’ Qali.

The site was developed across multiple applications and includes villas, terraced houses, and apartment blocks.

No 16. Vista Xlokk, Marsaxlokk: 11,783.35 m²

A housing development in Marsaxlokk called Vista Xlokk ate up several fields. Malta Tourism Authority’s listings show that at least one of the development’s apartments is used as a short-let.

No. 17: The Crest, Sannat: 10,792.49 m²

This development included residential units and pools. Realtors market apartments in the development to those who enjoy “natural surroundings” and “country views”.

While Valletta stands as one of Malta’s most celebrated historical landmarks, an area of green space larger than the UNESCO capital has been lost to construction since 2018.

A new investigation by Amphora Media, in collaboration with Arena for Journalism in Europe and supported by The Malta Environment Foundation, reveals how nearly 830,000 square metres of nature and cropland have been built up in Malta between 2018 and 2023.

That’s about 116 football pitches – or two Manoel Islands – and roughly a quarter of Comino. It’s almost double the entire land area of Vatican City.

The investigation uses methodology established in ‘Green to Grey’, an award-winning investigation into documented green land (nature and cropland) loss in Europe. It was coordinated by Arena for Journalism in Europe and initiated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) to quantify for the first time exactly how much nature is being lost to construction in Europe. 41 journalists from 11 countries worked together with scientists from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) to refine their novel methodology. Malta was excluded… until now.

Explore the map

Malta’s total land loss stands at 0.26%, placing it above the UK and among the top 5 countries by share of green area lost to development. The figure is a conservative estimate as the data uses an AI model to flag potential ‘Green to Grey’ areas.

The largest five areas identified in the research in Malta ranged from over 20,000 to over 34,000 square metres.

The land use changes may seem small on a map and are dispersed across Malta and Gozo. But as Peter Verburg, a professor of environmental spatial analysis at VU University Amsterdam, explained, the cumulative impact is driving global change.

According to figures provided by the European Environment Agency, Malta lost 920,000 square metres of land to development between 2012 and 2018; between 2006 and 2012, Malta lost 190,000 square metres.

Taken together, the data show that since 2006, when the PN government introduced its rationalisation exercise, Malta has lost at least 1.94 square kilometres of green land.

Artificial surfaces are the largest land use category in Malta, followed by cropland, which constitutes another quarter, and shrubland, about one fifth of the land area.

Statistically, around 26% of the Maltese islands’ area is covered by artificial surfaces, and almost 15% is built up as of 2022. 

Source: Eurostat

For comparison, areas enjoying some form of protection under the Natura 2000 framework cover nearly 14% of Malta’s land. Compared to other EU countries, Malta has a low rate of artificial area per resident, meaning that many people are concentrated in relatively small built-up areas.

In the Green to Grey team’s analysis, the Netherlands led in the share of land taken up by construction between 2018 and 2023, with 0.46%. Belgium, Poland, and the UK followed, with 0.25% or more. Countries of the Scandinavian peninsula lost 0.06% or less.

How did we do it?

With guidance from Arena for Journalism in Europe and Green to Grey’s coordinators, Amphora Media replicated the project’s methodology. This consisted of:

1. Using Dynamic World, a land use and land cover dataset produced by Google and the World Resources Institute, employing a deep learning model;
2. Tuning the algorithm to isolate every pixel that changed from not being built-up to being built-up between 2018 and 2023;
3. Manually verifying the model’s output;
4. Calculating the land take-up;
5. Finding case studies.

The team did not manually examine the entire territory of Malta to see whether the algorithm missed any developments, so the calculations and the map of identified land use change are conservative estimates, and some developments may be missing.

This method used satellite images only and did not address whether the land taken up is outside the development zone.

How to use the map

The map outlines the areas that were developed (turned from green to grey) and were detected as such by the algorithm. By scrolling through the map, you can zoom in, select a site, and see how it changed from a satellite view.

The Amphora Media team verified the shapes on the map using satellite imagery. Inaccuracies may occur where satellite images were unclear. The algorithm may have missed some developments because it relied only on satellite imagery. Therefore, use the map as a starting point for further inquiry rather than as conclusive evidence.

This investigation was supported by The Malta Environment Foundation

On 17th July 2019, Parliament approved a waiver to lift long-standing restrictions on government land owned by Fortina. Documents obtained by Amphora Media show that on 6th August, Fortina Developments sold a part of that same site to Hillside (New Media Malta Property) Limited, a company ultimately owned by Bet365 Group Limited, for €40 million.

Bet365 declined to comment. Fortina’s lawyers told Amphora Media that “the transaction in question was conducted between commercial entities through properly executed public deeds, which are matters of public record and accessible for your review. These deeds contain the complete factual record of the transaction.”

Parliament approved the waiver on development restrictions for €8.1 million. A report by the National Audit Office found an independent valuation of €18 to €23 million was suppressed by government officials. 

One of these restrictions was a ban on any above-ground construction or development in the area.

Fortina secured the €40 million promise of sale with Hillside against an €8 million deposit on 14th February 2018, a year and a half before the land restrictions were lifted by Parliament.

This was two months before the Planning Authority received Fortina’s application permit over a change of use to office space.  It was approved in October 2018.

The deal included several airspace parcels of land within the entire site:

• A 1,645 square metre site,
• A 940 square metre site,
• A 978 square metre site,
• A building permit awarded to Fortina Developments Ltd, the company led by CEO Edward Zammit Tabona (PA 03913/18),
• The use and modification of the existing car park.

According to the deed, Hillside (New Media Malta Property) Limited has “free and unencumbered” ownership of the site, including against “any rights in favour of the Government or any other public authority”.

The €40 million sale does not include the Hotel development or other sites on the land that are still owned through Fortina-linked companies.

Hillside’s accounts in 2019 also list a separate €33.9 million expense for the construction and development of the building, of which almost €1.7 million had already been paid by that time.

The deed of sale references the “Arapa Deed”, which was a tripartite legal agreement between the Planning Authority, the Malta Tourism Authority, and Fortel Services Limited.

This earlier deed imposed an obligation on Fortel to restrict the use of the hotel development to tourist accommodation only, strictly prohibiting its use for permanent residential occupation. 

The deed of sale included specific clauses, such as the creation of the FSL Easement, designed to protect Hillside’s acquired property in the event of a breach of the Arapa Deed that could impact the entire project.

The Journey from a €250,000 deed to a €40 million sale

The site is part of the land Fortina acquired through multiple government deeds, which had restrictions lifted as part of the €8.1 million deal.

Fortina acquired the site for just under €250,000 in a 1996 government deed. The deed gave Fortina “free and unencumbered” use of the land, against several strict conditions:

• Construction was restricted to remain below specified reference points, but certain exceptions were allowed, including a swimming pool (up to 730 m²), boundary walls, toilets, garden landscaping, emergency exits, an Enemalta sub-station, and the reconstruction of the bocci pitch with ancillary facilities.
• It would be used exclusively for the hotel’s extension.

Corporate records and public registry documents show that, over 20 years later, on 14th February 2018, Hillside (New Media Malta Property) Limited & Fortina Developments Limited entered into a promise of sale agreement to acquire the airspace, car park spaces, and shaft for €40 million, paying an €8 million deposit.

More than 18 months later, on 17th July 2019, Parliament waived all restrictions on that site and several others for just €8.1 million. On 6th August, Fortina sold that portion for €40 million.

Fortina’s Cut-Price Waiver To Lift Restrictions And The NAO

Fortina acquired all the sites in government deeds between 1991 and 2000 for a total value of around €1.4 million. The land was handed to Fortina for the sole purpose of extending its hotel on the site into apartments, offices, and commercial spaces. 

The government approved the €8.1 million waiver. But an independent valuation, suppressed by the Lands Authority, placed the land’s value between €18.3 million and €23.9 million, depending on the payment terms.

That’s a discrepancy of nearly €13 million to Fortina’s benefit.

As part of the deal, Fortina paid €1 million upfront and would pay an additional €7.1 million over the next 10 years. By the end of 2024, Fortina had so far spent some €2.9 million, leaving a balance of around €5.1 million, which is to be settled entirely by July 2029.

The Lands Authority has been instructed by the Parliamentary Audit Committee to conduct a new valuation of the Fortina waiver, following a report by the National Audit Office that revealed significant discrepancies in the original assessment. 

The report also found that Lino Farrugia Sacco, the then-Lands Authority Chairman, had withheld a valuation placing the land’s worth at €18 million

Farrugia Sacco, who died in 2021, warned the valuation “would create problems for him.”

Former Lands CEO Received Payments From Fortina’s Boss the Year Sliema Land Was Undervalued By €13M

A previous collaborative investigation by Amphora Media and the Times of Malta revealed an intelligence report that detailed how former Lands Authority CEO James Piscopo received payments from a company owned by Fortina’s CEO, Edward Zammit Tabona, in the same year Parliament approved the deal.

Piscopo declared his conflict of interest with Fortina’s owners in September 2018, after journalists raised questions months into his appointment.

The intelligence report indicated that he received in excess of €50,000 from Zammit Tabona-linked firms in 2019. A few months after being forced to resign all public roles, Piscopo was also awarded an €11,800-a-month consultancy with Ozo Group, part-owned by Zammit Tabona.

Piscopo and Zammit Tabona confirmed the payments. However, both said the payments were private and legitimate and had no connection to the waiver.

The NAO report has determined that Fortina was the recipient of a significant information leak on the deal.

The Auditor General noted that, by 4th February 2019, Fortina was already in possession of the €8.1 million valuation by the Architects’ Lands Authority – before the Board of Governors meeting – since its counterproposal explicitly referenced the figure.

Fortina later confirmed that this valuation triggered its own €2.7 million counter-valuation.

Fortina told Amphora Media that “Edward Zammit Tabona has always conducted himself in a correct manner as CEO of the Group” and that while it was not in a position to comment, it stressed that Piscopo abstained in discussions or decisions on the waiver.

In a statement following the PAC order, Fortina reportedly issued a statement insisting that the “maximum fair value would at best range between €3.5 to €7.4 million”.

“We paid significantly more than the current fair value standards. Not only did we not benefit from an advantageous valuation, but we were significantly disadvantaged,” it said.

• Tourism has more than doubled in a decade. Now at 3.5 million a year, or an average of 62,000 extra people per day.
• Today, there are more than 9,300 active listings on Airbnb.
• Short-term rentals now make up a third of the tourist accommodation market.
• The market generates an estimated €47 million over a year.
• Sliema’s Airbnb market is the largest, worth €7.3 million, followed by St Julian’s (€5 million) and St Paul’s Bay (€3.8 million).
• In Valletta alone, 1 in 6 homes is part of the tourism market. In tourism hotspots, like Sliema, Gżira and others, that number is now at 1 in 10.
• Nearly 200 clusters where multiple short-lets are concentrated in a single building or street.
• Four main arteries in Sliema, Tower Road, The Strand, Triq Robert Arrigo, and Triq Manwel Dimech, host 401 Airbnb listings.
• Local councils report mounting complaints over waste, noise, vandalism, and safety, while revenues eclipse budgets.

Malta now boasts more than 9,300 active listings on Airbnb alone, a figure that underscores just how deeply short-term rentals have reshaped the island’s housing landscape, with some localities carrying a disproportionate share of the burden.

Amphora Media’s latest investigation, carried out with support from Journalismfund Europe and in collaboration with Centro di Giornalismo Permanente, analysed data collected from Airbnb and provided by an activist-led platform, Inside Airbnb, to offer a closer look at a booming industry reshaping Malta’s tourism accommodation sector and fuelling growing tensions within residential communities.

Malta’s tourism, one of the seven priority sectors promoted by the government, has doubled in a decade. The number of visitors has soared from around 1.6 million in 2013 to 3.5 million in 2024, equivalent to an extra 62,000 people in the country every day.

Accommodating this surge has pushed thousands to convert private residences into tourist lets. According to NSO, in 2024, the number of tourists staying in ‘other rental accommodation’, under which short-lets fall, exceeded a million.

It now accounts for 33% of the total market, and the figure is growing. The number of tourists staying at hotels and other collective accommodation has also increased over the period, but their share has dropped by 10% over the last five years.

The market can be highly lucrative. Inside Airbnb data reveals that Malta-based listings generate an estimated €47.3 million annually.

Yet, most of the money fails to reach the localities and communities.

For example, estimates based on Inside Airbnb’s data show that the Airbnb market in Sliema, one of the localities overburdened by tourism, generates an estimated revenue of over €7.3 million – dwarfing the 2024 Sliema local council’s annual budget of around €1.6 million. The 2024 budget for local councils was €48.4 million across 68 localities.

The strain is being felt at the community level. 

From waste to noise complaints, alleged vandalism and fears over public safety, frustrations are mounting, with residents in Swieqi even taking to the streets in protest.

“Malta has a reputation abroad as a place where everyone does what they want – everyone smokes cannabis, everyone breaks things – that’s the reputation Malta has,” says St Julian’s mayor Guido Dalli.

“[Short lets are] the most difficult thing, not only in Marsaskala, but around Malta,” Marsaskala mayor Mario Calleja told Amphora. In 2022, his local council was receiving 16 weekly complaints about rubbish on average. 

“And why do we have these mishaps? The owners of these apartments do not inform tourists of the proper days to dispose of waste. They just take it out on whatever day. This is the most common problem for local councils.”

In response to parliamentary questions about Airbnbs disrespecting municipal waste collection schedules, Owen Bonnici, in charge of local government, replied with promises to distribute information stickers and increase enforcement.

Swieqi: A residential neighbourhood transformed

“If residents are happy, tourists will come,” says veteran hospitality expert Marie Avellino. But protests, petitions and media reporting about locals’ grievances show that for many locals, mingling with tourists is less than a happy experience.

Even the government’s tourism 2021-2030 strategy acknowledges that the “signs of uneasiness by local residents having to cohabit with tourists accommodated in residential apartment blocks or similar” is one of the ‘areas of concern’ 

Swieqi, once a quiet residential suburb neighbouring St Julian’s, has morphed into a hotspot for short-term rentals, a byproduct of its proximity to Paceville, Malta’s nightlife capital, which has gained notoriety online for clips of rowdy tourist behaviour. 

Over a third of Swieqi listings mention Paceville in their description. Some listings even warn that the proximity to Paceville makes the place unsuitable for families and older people.

Airbnb did not reply to Amphora Media’s questions about these developments.

Our analysis shows 432 active Airbnb listings in Swieqi, accounting for approximately 6% of all livable residences in the area. That figure excludes other platforms such as Booking.com, for which we could not obtain comparable data. 

Davcar Developments Ltd, whose brand is Holiday Letting Malta, is a major player, with 80 active listings, 62 in Swieqi. 360 Group comes next with 24 properties in Swieqi, but their estimated revenues are the largest, approaching €99,000 in Swieqi alone.

Cross-checking the numbers with Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) records suggests that, by conservative estimates, more than 9% of Swieqi rentals are unlicensed.

In August, weeks before a protest over the issue took place, an activist who asked to be called JC reached out to Booking.com and Airbnb to complain about suspicious listings and the negative impact of short-lets.

In response to our questions, Booking.com said, “In the very rare instance that we are made aware of any unlawful behaviour taking place at a property listed on our site – including house parties – we investigate thoroughly, cooperate with local authorities or law enforcement, and when necessary block the customer account from our platform.”

“We also have a solid process in place for authorities to report any concerns, taking swift action to remove properties if they are found not to be operating in compliance with local laws.”

MTA did not reply to Amphora Media’s questions.

Valletta: built by gentlemen, housed for short lets

The rise of short-term rentals has reshaped neighbourhoods while directly draining the supply of homes available to residents.

Historically, tourist accommodation in Malta concentrated along the coast, as tour operators channelled their sun-seeking clients for standard-length holidays at beachside hotels.

However, in 2006, low-cost airlines began operating in Malta, attracting city break seekers. To keep up with the demand, short-term rentals have soared, now comprising a third of the market.

In Valletta, Malta’s state and cultural capital, nearly 570 properties are listed on Airbnb, meaning around one in six liveable homes in the city is now part of the tourism market.

According to official statistics, Valletta is in second place in terms of tourism intensity, with its effective population in 2023 nearly doubling.

This is mainly driven by tourists. Census data shows that as of 2023, Valletta has just over 5,000 residents, smaller than what it was in 2013. A fifth of them are over 70 years of age.

The five largest operators have 130 listings among them.

VREM Ltd has the largest portfolio in Valletta, with an estimated annual revenue of around €108,000 from the city. Valletta Vintage emerged as the highest earner, estimated to generate over €324,000 per year with just 10 listings.

The combined revenue of the top 10 earners from Airbnb exceeds the 2024 allocation to the Valletta local council from the central government.

“The private sector is proliferating in residential zones, which is clashing with the community,” says Valletta resident Billy McBee, who founded Residenti Beltin and unsuccessfully ran for the last local elections with this movement.

“I remember a time when we used to have good quality tourists. I mean, very respectful ones, they used to leave tips, they used to go for retail, but the quality kind, you know, they never gave any problems to anyone. Nowadays, you get horrible quality tourists.”

“Waste management is quite an issue. If the private sector truly honours the private collection, then there wouldn’t be any problem. But during summer, you’ve got pests, cockroaches, rats, smells, and liquids. These are really, literally getting out of hand,” he says.

In 2024, 44 waste contraventions were issued in Valletta, and three resulted in court cases. Valletta’s budget for waste disposal and refuse collection was €120,000 in 2024.

We asked 12 major operators about their approach to licensing, neighbourhood disturbance policy, and waste management. None of them replied.

“You have nightlife, without ensuring enforcement,” McBee continued. “They [policymakers] keep adding so many things to the pot, which is now boiling. People are getting fed up. Valletta is not managing its infrastructure, like energy, electrical waste management, drainage system, and traffic.”

MTA did not reply to questions about licensing so many short lets in Valletta.

Sliema, St Julian’s, Gżira and St Paul’s Bay: Localities overwhelmed

Swieqi and Valletta, however, are far from the worst affected. Sliema tops the list with 1,268 Airbnb properties, followed by St Paul’s Bay with 1,007 and St Julian’s with 947. The next highest concentrations are in Gżira (684) and Valletta (569).

In Gżira, Sliema and St Julian’s, roughly one in ten liveable homes is now listed on Airbnb.

Estimates from Inside Airbnb data show that Sliema’s Airbnb market is the largest, worth €7.3 million. Airbnb listings are estimated to generate around €5 million in St Julian’s and €3.8 million in St Paul’s Bay.

The numbers also reveal heavy clustering. In nearly 200 cases, multiple listings are concentrated within the same location, suggesting that operators may run residential buildings as de facto hotels, but with fewer regulations or oversight than traditional accommodation providers must follow.

St Julian’s, Sliema and St Paul’s Bay top that list with 69, 68, and 68 listings in such clusters, respectively.

The concentration of short-term rentals is starkest at street level. In Sliema alone, four main arteries, Tower Road, The Strand, Triq Robert Arrigo and Triq Manwel Dimech, account for 401 listings between them.

Tower Road tops the national list with 145 Airbnbs, followed by The Strand with 114. Similar patterns emerge elsewhere: Triq d’Argens in Gżira hosts 70, while St Julian’s has three streets, Ġorġ Borġ Olivier, St George and Triq Spinola, each exceeding 50 listings.

Gżira Mayor Neville Chetcuti warns that, similar to Valletta, there is a larger transformation of his locality set in action.

“It’s an ageing population in Gżira. There aren’t many young people, obviously, because every place is being demolished and rebuilt into hotels or flats or guesthouses. So they move out of here, and the number keeps going down,” he told Amphora Media.

A Battle on Two Fronts: Poor Enforcement In Communities Facing Overtourism And Overpopulation

Many localities facing the burden of over-tourism are facing challenges from a ballooning population, despite significant gaps in enforcement.

St Julian’s and Swieqi fall under the same police district, yet between 2013 and 2025, the number of officers assigned there fell by four despite the locality being under “very high risk” of crime. This decline comes despite a sharp rise in demand: police reports in the district increased by 2,670, from 5,937 in 2020 to 8,607 in 2024.

Meanwhile, across Malta, the number of noise complaint reports has increased over the years, climbing from 341 in 2021 to 473 in 2024. 

Nowhere is the strain felt more than in Paceville. Despite being Malta’s nightlife hub, notorious on social media for clips of drunken brawls, vandalism and public urination, it has no police station of its own.

Instead, the St Julian’s station and Swieqi officers serve as first points of contact for those requiring police intervention in the area.

The government has refused to disclose exactly how many officers are deployed in Paceville. Replying to a parliamentary question in May, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said only that numbers “vary according to the need and particular circumstances”, noting that patrols there include district and community police as well as the Rapid Intervention Unit.

He also promised that a CCTV network for Paceville would finally be operational by next summer.

Valletta, which has become its own entertainment hub in the years before and following V18, faces similar shortages. Police numbers in its district fell by 32 between 2013 and 2025, even as incident reports to the police rose by 797 between 2020 and 2024.

Sliema, Gżira and Msida, grouped together in Police District 7, are also under strain. The district, which combines dense residential areas with heavy tourist inflows, has 67 officers in total. 

With a total population of 49,000, that means there’s one officer for every 731 residents. According to Euronews, the EU had an average of 341 police officers per 100,000 people, or one officer every 293 residents.

In response to parliamentary questions about Airbnbs disrespecting municipal waste collection schedules, Owen Bonnici, in charge of local government, replied with promises to increase enforcement for those disposing of waste on the wrong day.

“I’m not saying Maltese don’t litter, because they do as well, but the majority for sure are tourists. Especially those in short lets, they’re the ones who cause the most problems,” Gżira mayor Neville Chetcuti told Amphora Media.

Tourism researcher Avellino cautions against blaming tourists for the waste problem when the door-to-door collection system confuses them. 

“Imagine that as a tourist, I don’t know what to do with the garbage bag. I walk along the streets and see garbage bags outside. ‘Ah, that’s what people do there! Okay, I will do the same.’ And they think they’re doing a good thing,” she said.

Tourism’s growth “places stress on key resources”, Deloitte acknowledged in a carrying capacity study, published in 2022. “Already at 2019 tourism levels, tourists’ and residents’ satisfaction were impacted by excess volume,” the study’s authors noted.

“Key issues impacting both residents and tourists (to varying degrees) include traffic, littering, waste management, poor urban environment (overcrowding, overdevelopment and uglification) and the lack of authenticity of experience,” Deloitte noted. In response to the negative effects, there are increasing calls to calculate touristic locations’ carrying capacity again. 

Avellino warns that this may not be a silver bullet.

“Carrying capacity changes. It’s not like you’ve got an apartment with three bedrooms, therefore the carrying capacity of that apartment is six persons.”

She says that coming up with an objective figure of how much tourism the islands can sustain is very difficult, and even if it could be done, it may upset some:

“Governments and politicians traditionally went by volume. So if the carrying capacity exercise had to be done – and it’s very complex to do it – and all of a sudden the carrying capacity, for example, turns out to be two million tourists – it hurts them.”

This investigation was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe.

• Approximately 1 in 5 Airbnb listings in Malta lack an MTA licence.
• Hotspots such as Gżira (46%), Sliema (30%), and St Paul’s Bay (28%) show even higher rates.
• MTA enforcement is struggling to keep up with the pace of the market.
• Between 2022 and 2023, not a single license was revoked.
• From 2026, new EU law will require platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com to share detailed monthly data with authorities.

Malta’s tourist boom is spilling far beyond its hotels and guesthouses. From Marsaxlokk to Mellieħa, ordinary homes are being converted into holiday rentals on Airbnb – often without a license and outside the very rules meant to regulate them.

Our investigation shows that about one in five listings across the island of Malta are unlicensed. The picture is starker in the main tourist hubs: nearly a third of all listings in Sliema and St Paul’s Bay are unlicensed, rising to almost half in Gżira.

Still, enforcement remains lacking, with officials expected to monitor all of Malta and Gozo’s catering establishments, kiosks, travel agencies and other establishments, not including the over 9,300 listings on Airbnb alone.

Amphora Media’s investigation, carried out with support from Journalismfund Europe and in collaboration with Centro di Giornalismo Permanente, shows that almost every fifth liveable dwelling in Valletta, every ninth in St Julian’s, and every tenth in Sliema and Gzira has been converted into a short-let rentals advertised on Airbnb.

In Malta, the law clearly states that no one can run a holiday premises without the proper licence. When Airbnb listings include a field for licence numbers, it is tracked by Inside Airbnb. However, this field was blank across all listings in Malta.

On its website, Airbnb says, “the absence of a registration number does not mean the Host is not compliant—they’re just not required to register.” 

In Istanbul, which was the focus of our partner’s investigation, the licence field was active and licence numbers were visible. Airbnb did not explain why Maltese listings do not show license numbers.

Calculating the absent licences

Our analysis is based on a conservative estimate of the gap between listings advertised and licences issued by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA). To get a licence, properties must comply with rules on minimum bathrooms per person, emergency exits and lighting, and even a refuse collection service.

For holiday premises of the standard class, the annual licensing fee is €130 per year per unit if it is in Malta and €104 if in Gozo – a higher rate is charged for villas with pools and farmhouses; lower fees per unit are charged for clusters of various sizes.

A new EU law, which will apply from next year, will require large short-let platforms to send monthly data about this market to authorities. 

“Cities are experiencing a spike in illegal short-term holiday rentals. This is making cities across Europe harder to live in and less affordable,” MEP Kim Van Sparrentak, who led the European Parliament’s work on the new law, said when it was adopted.

As part of the investigation, Amphora Media and partners analysed data collected from Airbnb and provided by an activist-led platform, Inside Airbnb, and publicly available government and census data to offer a closer look at a booming industry reshaping Malta’s tourism accommodation sector and fuelling growing tensions within residential communities.

Inside Airbnb has collected data on over 9,300 active listings advertised on Airbnb in Malta. Separately, Inside Airbnb collected data on hosts who identified as businesses and provided their details to Airbnb.

Read more about how short lets are reshaping Malta

MTA’s list of short-term rental licenses shows nearly 80,000 bed covers across 7,552 establishments. Among them, 7,116 are holiday homes. Guesthouses and hotels can also advertise on Airbnb.

Our analysis indicates that in some areas of Malta, nearly half of the Airbnb listings are unlicensed. 

From the total 9,376 active listings found on Inside Airbnb’s database, 50 listings could be traced to licensed hotels, 79 listings identified themselves as rooms in hotels or b&bs.

This is a conservative estimate, subtracting the number of MTA-licensed holiday homes from the total number of listings, after we identified & removed all collective accommodations and any listings that could not be confirmed or otherwise identified as such (390).

In Malta: 

There are 8,044 active listings.

With 5,649 officially licensed holiday homes, it is estimated that around 1,925 listings are likely to be unlicensed – a quarter of all listings of the island and one in every 500 livable homes.

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) puts that figure even higher. Using data from VRBO to supplement that of Airbnb, an MHRA study conducted by Deloitte estimated that there could be as many as 10,043 short-term rental properties, around half of which are licensed.

“Alternatively, if one were to consider NSOs data on guest nights spent in private rented accommodation during the peak July and August period, then there should be at least 8,900 – 10,000 private rented accommodation units available to support the market demand,” the report reads. 

The data on unlicensed short-term rentals in Gozo is more complicated, hinting that many short-lets, licensed or unlicensed, are not advertised on Airbnb.

Gozo has 1,332 listings on the platform, but there are 1,465 MTA licences for holiday homes in Gozo. A search on Booking.com for a two-person stay at “Entire homes & apartments”, “holiday homes”, “apartments” or “villas” shows a total of 1,261 properties in Gozo.

MTA enforcement is not keeping up with the surging supply

Limited enforcement by the Malta Tourism Authority has led to a proliferation of unlicensed holiday accommodation providers.

According to data tabled in parliament, MTA carried out 1,771 inspections on new licensees and 2,839 routine inspections in 2023. However, this covers the licensing of catering establishments, kiosks, travel operators and other establishments.

Meanwhile, there were just 474 inspections based on complaints in 2023. That’s over nine a week, despite there being an estimated 62,000 tourists on Malta’s streets every single day. 

The numbers for Gozo are even weaker, with just 32 inspections on complaints across a calendar year. The southern region is even less, at just 24.

In 2022-2023, no licence was revoked. 

Between January and March 2024, 250 tourist rentals were inspected. Details on whether any fines were issued or whether any licenses were revoked are yet to be provided following a freedom of information request.

It should be noted that the Inside Airbnb datasets used for this investigation are accessible to MTA as well. In 2023, laws changed, so the MTA must share all holiday premises data with local councils on request.

Tourism minister Ian Borg promised action in April, saying on an episode of Il-Kazin that the government has “the data from the platforms; the data we don’t have, we will continue to obtain. And whoever is renting [to tourists] without being registered faces fines that reach €23,000 — meaning we are not going to be joking about this.”

In August, Swieqi residents reached out to Booking.com and Airbnb to complain about suspicious listings and the negative impact of short-lets. Soon after, Swieqi’s Deputy Mayor wrote on Facebook that “Several listings from around six apartments have already been blocked, particularly those with just one or two registered guests, pending further investigation.”

Booking.com told Amphora Media that it has “a solid process in place for authorities to report any concerns, taking swift action to remove properties if they are found not to be operating in compliance with local laws.”

The Malta Tourism Authority and Airbnb did not respond to a request for comment. 

Amphora Media also contacted 12 major short lets operators to ask how they manage licensing for their listings. None of them replied.

This investigation was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe.

Activists argue that MIDI, the developer, is bound by contractual obligations to ‘substantially’ complete the project by 2023, which it has failed to fulfil. MIDI has pushed back, insisting that the project is taking so long due to ‘unforeseen’ architectural finds on site, appeal processes, and “slow motion” planning.

Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela says the government’s hands are tied, and the developer would be eligible for hefty compensation if the concession was cancelled.

Opposition leader Bernard Grech believes the government must honour its obligations – but the interview did not cover developers’ obligations”. In recent days, several Nationalist Party MPs have come out in favour of scrapping the deal. Even the Labour Party’s president admitted to having signed the petition.

So did MIDI do everything it could to fulfil its contractual obligations?

In 2024, the Times of Malta fact-checked claims about whether the concession contract allows the government to reclaim Manoel Island if the developer fails to substantially complete the works.

In response, MIDI wrote that “The delays encountered are clearly documented and include the delays associated with the archaeological finds which necessitated the complete redesign of the masterplan, delays associated the approval of development permits and most recently the delay associated with the requirement to prepare a Heritage Impact Assessment, which is still ongoing.”

Speaking to MaltaToday, MIDI CEO Mark Portelli admitted that the 2023 deadline stipulated in the concession contract was breached. Still, he argued that the deed includes automatic provisions for extending that deadline, and those provisions cover building permits, archaeological finds, “any delays beyond the control of MIDI”.

He also specified that negotiations with the government are ongoing regarding the deadline extension based on the archaeological findings.

Neither MIDI nor the government replied to our questions about the content and timeline of these negotiations.

Portelli considers that the company lost 10 years due to archaeological excavations on the two sites included in the concession. He expects 10 years to be added to the completion deadline.

“The Group has encountered several unforeseen delays related to the issuance of development permits and archaeological finds at both Manoel Island and Tigné Point. These issues, which were not foreseen at the time the emphyteutical deed was granted in 2000, entitles the Group to an extension of the completion date for the development works as per the provisions of the Deed,” MIDI’s chairman wrote in the company’s annual report.

Signed in 2000, the concession agreement contains clauses that establish a 2023 deadline to ‘substantially’ complete the development, and fines in the event this is not done. 

Fines also apply if the developer fails to complete the restoration of heritage buildings, such as the Lazzaretto, by specified deadlines and commence works to prevent further deterioration of the heritage sites within six months, with completion expected within two years. The Lazzaretto restoration is still a work in progress: MIDI’s website still refers to it in the future tense.

The contract also requires the developer to apply for all necessary permits and authorisations within 12 months. Data on the Planning Authority’s website shows that the first application on Manoel Island since the concession agreement was for the restoration of Fort Manoel in 2001.

Failures to observe obligations are subject to fines. Meanwhile, if completion delays persist for three years, the government can rescind the concession.

There is a clause stating that “neither party shall be liable for delay in performing or failure to perform obligations if the delay or failure results from any event or circumstance outside its control.”

However, it points to a schedule that lists such events and circumstances specifically, and the list includes wars, floods, riots, and trade disputes, but not permitting processes, legal action or red tape.

MIDI’s argument has been that the deadlines do not apply since the company qualifies for an extension. “The clock is on hold,” Portelli said in 2025. In an earlier interview, he said archaeological digs began in 2019 and will last nearly five years.

A letter from Mamo TCV, a law firm representing MIDI, submitted to the Planning Authority states that “even a (hypothetical) breach of the condition [completion deadline] […] would not lead to ipso jure [by law] termination, but one which is at the discretion of the grantor [government]”.

It can be argued that archaeological finds are not as unforeseen as MIDI claims them to be. Attachments to the concession agreement include a report which mentions “many cemeteries on the island”.

Schedules attached to the contract allow the developer to address the discovery of archaeological remains by choosing to either rescind the concession over the affected areas, integrate the remains into the development if feasible, or—if the rest of the site becomes unsuitable—relinquish the entire concession. In such cases, the developer is entitled to a proportional refund and compensation for unusable improvements. A report by the Planning Authority shows that MIDI chose to integrate the cemeteries and convert them into a garden.

The fact that Manoel Island contains cemeteries has long been known. A 1987 publication by Paul Cassar stated that “There were six cemeteries, at different periods of time, associated with the lazzaretto”.

Planning Authority documents associated with MIDI’s 2017 development application clearly show that Superintendence for Cultural Heritage already flagged the likelihood of archaeological finds, as well as impact on Valletta’s UNESCO status.

Article 13 of the concession contract says that “the time limits” can be extended by any “such period” or “periods starting three months” from the date a required application is submitted, until the date that application is granted. This provision applies on condition that the developer duly filed all required applications and provided all the information required for them.

Some of the procedural delays were caused by the court questioning supporting documentation. An environmental impact assessment was challenged in court due to an alleged conflict of interest; however, in 2023, the court ruled that the assessment was acceptable. Nevertheless, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage was not satisfied with the photomontages and archaeological evaluations. 

The Environment & Resources Authority also noted that a nature permit would be required. This shows that competent authorities repeatedly had to remind the developer of the standards required for this type of application.

The question whether the delays are justifiable is ambiguous: if the government considered that delays up to 2023 were unjustified, it could have imposed fines, but in response to questions by the Times of Malta in 2024, MIDI did not admit to paying any fines and the government’s spokesperson did not answer the question. Neither MIDI nor the government replied to our questions directly.

Neither the government nor MIDI clarified the stage the discussion on the delays is in. MIDI’s 2024 annual report mentions discussions with the government – something its CEO Mark Portelli also confirmed in his 2025 interview.

The concession agreement contains several clauses that allow the government to ‘rescind’ (in full or in part) or ‘dissolve’ the concession contract. Regarding missed deadlines, there is currently no clarity from the government on its interpretation of whether project implementation delays are justified. Had the government imposed fines in 2023, it would be a clear signal. From MIDI’s responses to the media and the lack of mention of penalties in its annual report, it appears that no fines were imposed.

Since 2017, it was flagged to MIDI that cemeteries on site will require archaeological examinations, as cemeteries on the site have been mentioned in multiple sources. The impact of views and vistas of Valletta has also been flagged in late December in the planning application process. MIDI had the option to exclude sensitive areas from the concession, but did not use it.

As pointed out by MIDI’s lawyers, the interpretation of how the deadlines should be honoured is up to the government. From the limited communication on the issue from the government, it appears that, as a contracting side, it has accepted the delays and did not challenge or fine MIDI.
Pending the government’s communication on its interpretation of the acceptability of the delays, the matter remains ambiguous.

This project is supported by the European Media and Information Fund. The sole responsibility for any content supported by the European Media and Information Fund lies with the authors and it may not necessarily reflect the positions of the EMIF and the Fund Partners, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the European University Institute.

“The giving away of Fort Chambray and the surrounding land for the ridiculous amount of Lm10,000 a year… was and still is a scandal for many Maltese and Gozitan people.” This is how former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat described the sale of Fort Chambray before becoming Labour Party leader. Fourteen years later, he endorsed a new transfer to the Gozitan hotelier Michael Caruana.

Now, the fort and the public are being sold down the river for a third time after parliament approved changes to the concession granted to Caruana in 2005. The changes, rushed through parliament without public consultation, allow him to sell his concession to a group of investors in negotiations over the site, after Caruana failed to honour significant parts of the public concession. 

Last December, the Planning Authority gave the go-ahead to demolish the only British-era barracks in Gozo to make space for luxurious developments within the Fort. Several NGOs have appealed, and the hearing will be held on 25 March 2025.

 Why was Fort Chambray’s sale a bad deal for Malta?

The site, covering an area of nearly 100,000 square metres, consists of three designated areas: a hotel area; a residential area; and “other areas”, being historical buildings found on the site, which include only British-era barracks in Gozo; a bakery built by the Order of St John; the polverista, built at the time for storing gunpowder; and the fortifications. 

An analysis of Caruana’s 2005 contract by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation shows that the PN government of the day, led by Lawrence Gonzi, granted Caruana a lenient contract.

The agreed price for the land was low, €3.5 million for nearly 100,000 square metres of land, amounting to what would today be around €35 per square metre and an additional sum of around €2,300 per month in ground rent paid over 87 years.

In 2005, Caruana agreed with the government that they would complete the project in three phases: 

• Phase 1, which involved the construction of 80 apartments and villas overlooking the Mġarr Harbour area, was completed in early 2007, with the units promptly launched on the market.
• Phase 2 would include additional villas and apartments, this time overlooking the Gozo Channel.
• Phase 3 would develop a touristic area with a 6-star hotel.

However, Caruana stopped investing in the site once Phase 2 was complete, leaving things as they were. 

When contacted by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, Caruana said that on 24 January 2005, he settled all the contractual amounts due, as well as all the debts, including those racked up by previous concession owners. He also said that he has never donated to a political party.

The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation’s requests to the Lands Authority and the Lands Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi to confirm that the payment of the premium of Lm1,500,000 and the annual temporary ground rent of Lm12,100 were all paid by Caruana and that no outstanding payments remained to be paid – were ignored. 

Did Caruana breach the contract?

Green: Phase 1, Blue: Phase 2, No colour: Phase 3. Photo: Din l-Art Helwa Ghawdex.

The contract bound the developer to complete the development of the residential area in two phases: one not later than one year from the date of issue of a planning permit and the other not later than three years.

While the contract does list penalties of Lm100 (€240) for each day of default in case of failure to complete the development within the time limits, it does not specify a deadline to obtain said permits, meaning that there was never any actual timeline for the project’s completion. 

After Caruana withdrew his development permit applications, he was able to stop the clock. There were no clauses in the agreement explaining what would happen in such a case. 

The developer also bound himself to, at his own cost, fully restore and maintain the historical buildings on the site. These buildings have been left in a state of disrepair. 

The polverista. Photos: Din l-Art Ħelwa Għawdex.

Regarding the hotel area, Caruana had one year to decide whether to build a hotel or another project. The hotel was never built. However, the contract was very weak, and he was only obliged not to leave the designated hotel area in a dilapidated state. 

Where does this leave us?

We are left with several questions. 

Why did the government, first under the Nationalists and then under Labour, give away valuable real estate so capriciously and with such minimal obligations for the developer? 

Why were both sides of the House of Representatives so quick to give it up once again instead of fixing past mistakes?

We asked both the Labour Party and Nationalist Party whether any of the developers ever donated to them. We were met with no response.

Michaela Pia Camilleri is the Research and Legal Officer for the Daphne Caruana Galiziia Foundation.