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.Of the 1.94 square kilometres lost since 2006, 90% went after 2012. 

“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

Public groundwater from boreholes and pumping galleries covers close to 42% of the total public water supply. Nearly two-thirds of monitoring stations across the islands showed that groundwater levels decreased between 2000 and 2021 due to abstraction.

Data obtained by Amphora Media from the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) show that Polidano Brothers Ltd, Monte Kristo Vineyards Ltd and Polmesh Ltd have extracted nearly 227.5 million litres of water in 2020-2024 from their metered boreholes.

Monte Kristo Vineyards is the single largest extractor in the data set, extracting nearly 118.7 million litres of groundwater. It has four registered boreholes, but ERA had data from only one of them. This means that the company’s water footprint may be even larger. The boreholes are located in Mqabba, Qrendi and Siggiewi.

Polidano Group did not respond to Amphora Media’s questions about its water consumption and operations.

University of Malta’s water management expert Dr Julian Mamo says that some water sources are more important than others. “It’s all about drawdown,” he says, explaining how water in aquifers sits in lens-shaped structures, and intense extraction at the top of the aquifer would lower the water level for all nearby users, leading to seawater intrusion. “It very much depends on where you are. So the problem is the uncontrolled use from a single point,” he said.

The Planning Authority’s map shows that the Monte Kristo Vineyards site lies next to water infrastructure important for the public supply.

One of the boreholes that has no data is registered for private water supply. By law, private water suppliers provide water for commercial food and drink production, consumption on hospitality and restaurant premises, hospitals, and bottling. They must be registered.

Monte Kristo Vineyards has not filed accounts with the Malta Business Registry in almost 16 years. It risked being struck off in 2024, but avoided the procedure.

Malta Business Registry declined to comment on this specific case, but said that generally speaking, the striking off process can be halted “where an objection is received from a creditor, where the Registry is informed of pending judicial proceedings, or where the company demonstrates that it remains operational.”

Polmesh was set up to manufacture and supply building materials, and for steel manufacturing. It extracted nearly 62 million litres of water from its borehole in 2020-2024. Polidano Brothers extracted a further 47 million litres.

When asked whether commercial water supply, including by Montekristo Direct for government tenders, comes from an unmetered borehole, government authorities did not reply.

Supported by the government

Polidano companies have received government contracts for various construction, excavation and repair works. The Monte Kristo complex has hosted government-promoted events: a start-up festival, a statue collectors’ event, and an Arts Council workshop for children. Another company co-owned by Polidano, which specialises in alcohol and beverages, got a tender to supply soft drinks.

Charles Polidano had reportedly accrued some €40 million in unpaid taxes by 2021, before settling for less than €10 million with the tax commissioner.

Polidano Brothers ended the year 2023 with a loss of nearly €6 million, which it attributed to construction delays despite construction contracts worth €32 million and revenues from building materials, sale of property, and sale of fuel. Auditors noted that the company did not provide sufficient documentation for the audit.

In the financial year 2019, Polidano Brothers entered into an agreement with the Inland Revenue Department to repay overdue social security contributions with the government agreeing to waive some penalties for late payment. However, the company admitted to not respecting the terms of the agreement and instead discussing with the government to settle partly in-kind or introduce “set-offs against dues by Government to the Company”.

Polmesh, too, ended 2023 with a loss of close to €600,000.

Monte Kristo Vineyards Ltd received agricultural subsidies through the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2023 and 2024. The area has been subject to Planning Authority enforcement notices over illegal building on the agricultural site, which also features a concrete plant and a batching plant.

Charles Polidano’s 2009 and 2010 applications to sanction Montekristo’s family park, including an illegal zoo and an extension of its winery, in Siggiewi, were approved by the Planning Authority in July 2025 despite pending court cases concerning the site.

Official data shows that Monte Kristo Vineyards Ltd received over €36,000 in CAP subsidies in 2024, about a third of which were for environmental measures, and a further €37,000 in 2025.

In 2017, “Montekristo” (not specified, although the group contains several companies with this brand) received a €122,500 catering and ancillary services tender to service Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2017.

This investigation was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe.

This is the second part of our investigation, Profit In Every Drop. Read part one here.

The Major Abstractors: Landscaping and Construction 

“A lot of water is used in construction in the production of concrete and bricks. The greater part of this water comes from registered/ unregistered groundwater pumped from boreholes – not from town water,” engineer Cremona told Amphora Media. “This is putting additional pressure on Malta’s already-stressed groundwater system – when we should be reducing extraction, not increasing it.”

From the available data, three companies controlled by brothers Carmel (known as Charles, or Ċaqnu) and Paul Polidano are the largest identified commercial consumers of free groundwater from metered boreholes on their properties. 

Data obtained by Amphora Media from ERA shows that Polidano Brothers Ltd, Monte Kristo Vineyards Ltd and Polmesh Ltd have extracted over 227.5 million litres of water in 2020-2024 from their metered boreholes.

GEB Landscaping, owned by V & C Contractors Limited, Ozo Group, Derek Garden Centre and Sicilville SRL in Italy, alone was the second-largest abstractor, with almost 106 million litres of groundwater across the dataset.

Our analysis shows that the landscaping company’s water footprint is highest in summer, 21% above the annual average in 2024. The address of the borehole is stated as simply “Attard”.

In 2025, GEB Landscaping lost, due to jurisdictional and procedural grounds, its legal challenge against a €11,461.31 fine imposed after the Water Services Corporation, which accused it of tampering with its water meter. The case was transferred to another court. GEB Landscaping did not reply to Amphora Media’s questions.

GEB Landscaping routinely receives tenders and direct orders for landscaping. In 2022, it received a €33.5 million contract to maintain landscaped areas on the islands. The Ozo Group, which leads the GEB consortium, called this contract “improving the environment for future generations”.

Mamo, the water management expert, says that landscaping is an important service in Malta. Rather than punishing groundwater use, the government should incentivise alternative water sources and encourage greater care in selecting plants suited to an increasingly arid climate.

In summer, water demand from landscaping soars. Photo credit: DOI

“I wouldn’t attack the landscaper. I would incentivise him to diversify his irrigation water sources. Tell him that the water cannot come from one borehole or two or three. We need to essentially redistribute where you get your water from,” he says, adding that for landscaping purposes, water does not need to be potable and can have a higher nitrogen content.

Attard Blue Mix Concrete Supplies and Attard Concrete Systems, are within the top 20 abstractors. The companies no longer exist and were absorbed into Cementstone Manufacturing Company Limited, owned by Attard Group.

Cementstone Manufacturing Company Limited, which produces and sells building materials to the construction industry, finished the financial year with over €24 million revenue, and a post-tax profit of over €550,000, a year after turning over a million in after-tax profit.

Attard Group benefited from over 59 million litres of free groundwater during the 2020-2024 period. No data was supplied for one of the boreholes in 2024.

Two companies belonging to the Elbros Group reported the use of over 11 million litres of water from their boreholes.

Meanwhile, Ballut Blocks Ltd, which produces concrete blocks and prefabricated concrete, logged over 7 million litres during 2024. According to its website, the company took part in building the airport runway, City Gate in Valletta, Tigne’ Point’s commercial block and Smart City, among other projects. 

None of the companies mentioned in this section replied to Amphora Media’s questions. 

Water & Wine: From Thirst to Profit

Water suppliers, predictably, extract groundwater for their business. 

A borehole owned by Sebastian Briffa and used by water supplier Victor Busuttil, known as tal-Maniklu, came third in terms of abstraction volumes over a five-year period, with over 100 million litres. 

Busuttil is a recipient of tenders and contracts, including Wasteserv, the Park Directorate, Ambjent Malta and SportMalta,  to supply water. He did not reply to Amphora Media’s questions.

A borehole registered to Madalien Ltd shows the 4th-largest abstraction of groundwater with over 96.2 million litres. The borehole was still registered in the company’s name as of 2024 although the company has been struck off after a merger with Master Wine Holdings Limited back in 2016.

The latter company is the registered owner of Camilleri Wines, Caraffa Wines, Zeppi’s Liqueur, Black Eagle, Just squashes, Budvar beer, Hawaiki juice, mySmoothie and Hildon bottled water. The company does not file income statements, using a legal exemption.

The borehole attributed to Madalien is located at San Gwann industrial estate. Louie Camilleri is the registered owner of the borehole. 

Branded water for PAVI supermarkets is produced on this industrial estate by Nibe Beverages Ltd, which also supplies Aquani water dispensers. PAVI has its own borehole but is not providing abstraction data to ERA. It did not reply to Amphora Media’s questions.

Nibe has received EU funding in Malta to export its product abroad. It received a €222,116 grant to produce more bottled water and another €232,276 for machinery. 

The spokesperson of CassarCamilleri Ltd, a joint venture involving Master Wine, said that the borehole use is shared between this group and Nibe Beverages, as both have initially invested in the borehole. “Our regulatory oversight has always been conducted through the Water Services Corporation (WSC) and the Health Department, who inspect the borehole and to whom we are obliged to provide readings and test results,” the spokesperson said when asked why ERA’s borehole ownership information was outdated.

With close to 78 million litres and over 48.5 million litres abstracted respectively, boreholes owned by Raymond Barbara and Alexander Vella round up the rest of the water suppliers in the top 10.

A separate A Vella Water Supplies Ltd borehole is registered on the same street as Vella’s. The company has not been filing accounts to MBR as required by law, leading MBR to issue a warning in 2020 and initiate strike-off procedures.

The company abstracted close to 3 million litres. When contacted for comment, the company’s representative suggested that Amphora Media investigates other suppliers.

In addition to Barbara, two other water suppliers, Vincent and Jonathan Desira, are registered users of Barbara’s borehole. 

Cremona’s analysis of ERA’s data suggests that 11 more boreholes may be attributable to water suppliers, but their names have been redacted.

Simonds Farsons Cisk Ltd, the maker of Cisk, Kinnie and San Michel water, is shown in ERA’s data as the 12th-largest user of groundwater in 2020-2024 with close to 30 million litres from one borehole and no data from another, which the company said was not in use. Simonds Farsons Cisk plc reports exporting products to more than 15 countries.

The company says it has since invested into water reuse and switched to using the public supply of water, for which it pays. In response to Amphora Media’s questions, its representative said the information was inaccurate and “No groundwater whatsoever has been extracted by the Farsons Group from any of its three boreholes since September 2020.”

Tourism

Tourism is one of the seven priority sectors promoted by the government and the most important industry according to a survey of Maltese residents. It is also a key player in groundwater abstraction. In hotels, groundwater can be used for pools, toilets and other applications. 

San Lawrenz Leisure Resort Ltd, which owns the Kempinski hotel in Gozo, is the fifth-largest user of free groundwater from its boreholes, with over 94.3 million litres in 2021-2024. Kempinski has six registered pools on its premises. It is also located next to important groundwater infrastructure.

The company is registered as a small private enterprise and is exempt from submitting income statements to the Malta Business Registry. It is estimated that the company’s investment property is worth over €31.8 million. 

The hotel in Malta is owned by Baldacchino Holdings Limited. The same group also owns Olive Gardens Investments Limited, a wedding reception and catering company, which owns a borehole that used nearly 3 million litres in 2020-2024.

That brings the total that Baldacchino Holdings companies extracted close to 100 million litres for the years for which they provided data.

According to official accounts, the entire group’s profit was close to €1.2 million in 2021. The group’s revenues from hospitality and leisure in 2021 were close to €5.6 million.

In Kempinski brand’s global annual report for 2024, the network wrote about the importance of water conservation and noted annual water reduction targets in its hotels, including recapture and recycling of water.

Gozo Village Holidays, a short and long-term rental company, is another of the top 20 users of groundwater.

In 2020-2021, none of the company’s three boreholes supplied abstraction data to ERA, but data for two boreholes appear from 2022, with over 10.1 million litres abstracted from 2022 to 2024. 

The company runs short lets and long rentals, features a swimming pool in its marketing to tourists and is run at the Fanal complex.

Several hospitality businesses own boreholes but do not report the data to ERA. This includes:

• Corinthia Palace Hotel in Attard: Corinthia Palace Hotel Company Limited, renamed CPHCL Company Limited and owned by, among others, the Libyan Foreign Investment Company.
• FTI Hotel Management (Malta) Limited, since renamed Meeting Point Hotel Management (Malta) Limited, and owned by Joseph Beppe Bugeja, Vassallo Group and its owners. It is a tour and hotel operator running the Labranda brand. Its borehole is located at the Riviera Spa Resort in Mellieha, which hosts Carisma Spa and Wellness. It has eight registered pools, although some of them are filled with seawater.
• Bella Vista Hotel, which has registered two swimming pools and two spa pools. It is owned by BV Formosa Company Ltd.
• C H Formosa Company Limited, which runs three hotels, a holiday villa and a holiday complex. ERA did not receive data from its borehole. One of their hotels has four registered swimming pools, and the other two have one each.
• Sunflower Hotels Co Ltd, which advertises a children’s pool and a heated indoor pool on its premises. It is currently in dissolution.
• Villa Rosa Hotel in St Julian’s offers self-catering accommodation and is now part of a multi-story development. It has one registered pool. A development application to replace existing buildings with a new complex was approved in 2025.
   

None of the companies mentioned above in this section replied to Amphora Media’s questions.

Two other companies were linked to boreholes with missing data:

• Mavina Holiday Complex, which Business Today reported has been sold to Joseph Portelli’s company. However, at the time of writing Hal Mann Vella Group PLC was still a shareholder. The owners’ representative said no boreholes currently belong to the complex.
  
• The Embassy Valletta hotel is linked to a borehole for which no data is reported. The company’s representative said the hotel only uses the public water supply and does not abstract from any borehole.

The Energy and Water Agency once initiated a project to help hospitality establishments audit their water use. When asked whether such ‘soft’ action addresses the over-extraction by the tourism sector, EWA did not reply.

Sport & event establishments

Sport clubs are a key feature in the data, although they are non-profits. Marsa Sports Club used over 18 million litres of water in 2020-2024, Qormi Clay Shooting Club used over 6 million, the Malta Football Association used nearly 5.5 million, and Malta Shooting Sport Federation used over 5 million litres from their registered boreholes. 

Not all of them supply the data. The Royal Malta Golf Club and Malta Racing Club, both boasting extensive landscaped area, have abstraction records missing. When asked whether their boreholes are unmetered and how much water the clubs abstract, the club’s representatives did not reply.

Properties hosting events also feature on the list provided by ERA, including:

• Sciclunas Estates, the owners of Palazzo Parisio, an events venue, which was the 21st-largest user of groundwater from boreholes. 
• Mount St. Joseph Retreat, a Jesuit-owned conference venue, which used more than 10 million litres of water over five years;
• Palazzo Promontorio, a wedding venue that can fit 700 people in its outside area, belonging to the AX Group, which showed more modest consumption, with 2 million litres. “At AX Group, sustainability is woven into our ethos, driving us to minimise our environmental impact across all facets of our operations,” the owning group claims. 

Palazzo Stagno in Qormi, another wedding and event venue which specifically offers pool parties, is not reporting data to ERA. Representatives of these venues did not reply to Amphora Media’s questions.

Public sector finances water supply

The public sector (national and EU authorities) is left to foot the bill for declining water quality and quantity. When overused groundwater becomes saltier, the cost of treating it increases.

“Malta continues to invest in leakage reduction, network modernisation, improved quality of desalinated water, expansion of reclaimed water networks and water demand management through a national investment programme exceeding 300 million euros,” Christopher Farrugia, Malta’s representative to the EU, stated in the EU’s Environment Council. When asked how these objectives are compatible with free and unmetered extraction for profit, Malta’s Representation to the EU and the Environment Ministry did not reply.

Malta has implemented an EU-funded project, reportedly worth €100 million, to improve the desalinated water and groundwater blend. Another €62 million project focused on upgrading reverse osmosis plants and rehabilitating boreholes. Around €3.5 million in EU funds was invested in water network improvements.

Malta has reported that EU-funded water infrastructure projects faced significant delays because contractors failed to complete work on time.

The European Commission refused Amphora Media’s request to disclose audit reports of funded projects, citing the reason that disclosure “could undermine the rights of the persons or entities concerned.”

Asked to comment on policy coherence, where the government invests in protecting water resources but also contracts users of free and loosely monitored groundwater, OPM did not reply.

Dr Mamo says that each groundwater source has its own vulnerabilities and therefore needs to be managed differently. “In Malta’s mean sea-level aquifer, and the equivalent aquifer in Gozo, our largest and most productive aquifers, it’s all about drawdown,” he says. He explains that freshwater forms a lens floating above seawater, maintained by a delicate balance between abstraction and recharge. Excessive pumping can lower groundwater levels, increasing the risk of seawater being drawn up into the freshwater lens above it. “It very much depends on where you are. The problem is uncontrolled abstraction from a single point,” he says.

“Wherever I go, no one tells me ‘I don’t care about groundwater. I want to pollute it or I want to damage it’. Absolutely not. Actually, people will say, ‘Am I pumping too much?’ The general sentiment is that groundwater sustains a lot of people.”

The European Commission has noted that “water abstractions are reported to be responsible for the failure to achieve good quantitative or ecological status” in many countries, and “Although they failed to submit their reports, this is known to be also a significant issue in Cyprus, Greece and Malta.” Yet Malta’s commercial sector, responsible for 16% of private abstractions as of 2023 and growing, continues to pump for free. 

This investigation was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe.

A cross-border investigation covering Malta, Cyprus and Portugal shows that three of the EU’s five most water-stressed countries systematically tolerate over-exploitation by for-profit companies. 

“Turn off the water while you brush your teeth and save up to 15 litres a minute. That’s up to 760 litres a week for a family of four,” a government campaign says. Meanwhile, the largest groundwater user drew at least 250,867 litres per week for a sprawling estate.

In 2023, Malta used 35 million cubic metres, or 35 billion litres, of groundwater. 13 million cubic metres were used for the public water supply; over 17 million for irrigation in agriculture and forestry; and roughly 1.5 million for manufacturing and services.

“Over-abstraction has resulted in the intrusion of saline waters in the main mean sea level aquifer systems, contributing to the gradual salinisation of these important groundwater reserves,” a government green paper, published in 2023, said.

To address unsustainable use, the green paper proposed pricing and quotas for water users. Since then, nothing has happened, except for unspecified “internal discussions”, according to the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA).

The registered commercial share is another question. Official records provided by ERA to Amphora Media show that more than 63% of all registered commercial groundwater boreholes are providing “no data”.

“What is probably happening is that most operators across the board would have one registered borehole and one or more, which is not. This so that, if the government decides to charge a tariff on the water pumped from the registered borehole, they will shift pumping from one borehole to another and continue as usual,” water treatment engineer and hydrologist Marco Cremona told Amphora Media after reviewing the data.

He is convinced that the dataset is incomplete: “I know of a number of commercial operators that pump a lot of water but are not on the list. For example, there is no information on the groundwater being pumped by commercial laundries – who also are big users of water,” he said.

Data indicates a rise in groundwater abstraction (more colloquially, extraction) by commercial operators over the period.

In 2020, total consumption stood at 459.9 million litres. By 2023, it had climbed to 656.8 million litres. In 2024 (the most recently available data), the figure dipped to 605.3 million litres, below the 2023 peak but still well above 2020 levels.

THE TOP GROUNDWATER ABSTRACTORS

Over-Abstraction Can Make Groundwater ‘Unusable For Decades’

A report by the European Environment Agency has found that over-abstraction causes salty water to mix with freshwater sources, particularly in Mediterranean countries like Malta, which could render groundwater “unusable for decades.”

It can also damage agricultural yields. Groundwater supplies over 80% of the Maltese agricultural sector’s needs, costing these users around €0.25 per cubic metre to deliver it where it is needed.

Marsa Sports Club, itself a major water user with over 18 million litres abstracted in 2020-2024, told Amphora Media that increasing salinity has been demanding more investments: “as the quality of the groundwater has deteriorated over the years through increasing salinity, the Club has been obliged to invest significant funds in adapting its facilities,” the club said. “These investments have been funded from the Club’s limited resources.”

The EU has set objectives to restore and protect the water cycle from source to sea by recognising water scarcity as a priority in the European Green Deal and various strategies, stating that “groundwater needs to be protected from pollution and over-exploitation”. 

The bloc’s Water Resilience Strategy calls for action to address “structural mismanagement of water due to both legal and illegal over-abstraction”.

Countries must “increase their efforts to register and control all abstractions”, and a pan-EU review of the strategy is promised in 2027. A 2025 Commission recommendation calls on countries to “apply appropriate water pricing to ensure the efficient use of water” and “adopt sufficiently dissuasive sanctions for illegal, unregistered or non-permitted water abstractions and discharges”.

None of this has stopped the government of Malta from allowing commercial operators to benefit from free groundwater abstraction, as long as they own boreholes.

Spokespersons of the government authorities contacted for comment did not reply to Amphora Media’s questions. The European Commission’s spokesperson told the investigation team that in principle, “Member States are required to control abstractions of fresh surface water and groundwater” including “a requirement for prior authorisation and the maintenance of a register or registers of water abstractions”, but “Member States may exempt from these controls any abstractions that ‘have no significant impact on water status.”

“There is some room for manoeuvre, and member states have been overusing this exemption now for years,” says Claire Baffert, water expert at the WWF European Policy Office.

How the free water economy works

The arrangement is simple: whoever owns a borehole pumps it for free.

Based on ERA data obtained by Amphora Media, Cremona compared extraction data across seasons and noted that summer abstraction is 29% above the annual average.

“A substantial part of this water is pumped by bowser operators who sell their water to hotels, for landscaping, for the filling up of swimming pools etc. In comparison, the pumping in winter (the wet season in Malta) goes down to 22% below the annual average,” he said.

Non-potable water, called second-class water, can be used for toilet flushing, laundry, cleaning and irrigation. This water would cost €0.093 per cubic metre for agricultural or industrial purposes, or €0.932 per cubic metre for building or other applications, if it was purchased from the Water Services Corporation.

“Some commercial operators have reverse osmosis plants operating on groundwater, as an alternative to buying town water. In this situation, we are looking at three costs:

• the cost of pumping it from the ground to the surface – which is a relatively minor cost; 
• the cost of the treatment process itself (both in capital expenditure and operating costs); 
• and finally, there’s the discharge cost of the reverse osmosis reject. 

Notwithstanding these costs, it is still cheaper than buying public water,” Cremona said.

Dr Julian Mamo, a lecturer at the University of Malta working on water resources management in Malta, says that the cost of pumping, or lifting, groundwater cannot be considered negligible for sectors with lower profit margins such as agriculture. 

“In a country like Malta, where in the past our ancestors had to live with water scarcity, people then generally used water efficiently. Today this may not be the case for everyone, for sure. But generally, full-time farmers continue to use water efficiently because of the effort required to obtain this water,” he said.

“It’s the cumulative impact of all those abstractions that matters, and if none of those is monitored, then you end up in a situation where there is just too much water abstracted without everyone taking note of that,” WWF’s Baffert says.  Yet Malta’s commercial sector, responsible for 16% of private abstractions as of 2023 and growing, continues to pump for free. 

Read the second part of our investigation, looking at the companies and industries drawing the most free groundwater in Malta, here.

This investigation was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe.

Malta ranks the highest in platform-driven tourism intensity among EU countries, a new research project by the Urban Journalism Network and its partners, covering Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia Group, reveals.

Intensity measures the number of nights for the number of people who booked accommodation. For example: a family of four staying two nights is counted as eight nights. In Malta’s case, platform-driven tourism intensity is 13,658 guest nights per 1,000 inhabitants.

That’s a +136.5% increase from 2018. These figures do not include cruise ship passengers, whose numbers are also increasing.

Amphora Media is the network’s member in Malta. Our earlier investigation explored how short lets reshaped Malta’s communities, generating hundreds of thousands in revenue for some and leaving others with waste and noise.

The study is based on Eurostat data released on 2nd July that covers short-term rentals, such as apartments, booked through the three major providers — Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia Group — and excludes more traditional forms of accommodation, such as hotels and campsites.

Data shows that both short-term rentals and hotel bookings have increased since the pandemic. 

Platform tourism is not entirely synonymous with short lets. But overall, platform tourism is growing much faster than hotel stays.

In Malta’s case, the gap in growth between platform-driven tourist stays and hotel tourism is among the largest in the study, alongside Sweden and Norway.

Gobbling up homes and leaving waste

At the regional level, Malta, together with the Greek, Spanish and Portuguese islands, the Croatian coastline, Algarve in Portugal, and Corsica experienced the highest number of overnight stays relative to population size.

In Malta, platform-driven tourism has transformed localities like Swieqi, which are designated as residential and tourist accommodation is not allowed. But short-lets in ordinary apartments exploit a loophole in planning law. Many Airbnb listings in Swieqi advertise themselves as being close to Paceville: some do not even mention Swieqi at all.

This trend leaves residents with noise disturbances, vandalism, and festering waste generated in tourist rentals and brought out at inappropriate times. “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.

“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,” St Julian’s mayor Guido Dalli said.

Amphora Media’s investigation showed that 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 1 in 10.

It is a profitable industry. Our investigation into short lets advertised on Airbnb shows they generated an estimated €47 million over a year. Sliema’s Airbnb market was the largest, worth €7.3 million, followed by St Julian’s (€5 million) and St Paul’s Bay (€3.8 million).

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

Yet some short-let operators do not contribute to the public purse. Amphora Media’s investigation found that one in five listings is unlicensed.

Brace for August

Like many other countries, Malta experiences tourism peaks in August. This is when 15% of the year’s guest nights are booked. The concentration of bookings in August is milder than in Greece, Croatia and France.

Since the dominance of summer is not as pronounced in Malta, the Tourism ministry has issued a press release claiming that this shows diversification, higher added value, and quality of the tourism product. Amphora Media has seen no evidence to support this claim, and research by Urban Journalism Network shows that tourists increasingly look for cooler holiday destinations in summer.

A recent report by the EU Joint Research Centre simulates how future climate change will affect overall tourism demand. 

“The Central and Northern European regions are projected to become more attractive for year-round tourism activities. Conversely, 52 European regions spanning Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Romania are expected to experience a decline in tourist numbers compared to current levels.”

Tourism in Malta has been growing rapidly, but it is outpaced by growth in the cooler regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Poland.

This project was coordinated by the Urban Journalism Network and its partners. Research by Gaby Khazalova, graphics by Bene Brandhofer & David Meidinger, datavisual coordination by Hendrik Lehmann

An explosion at the Lourdes fireworks factory in the Ta’ Qadi area of Naxxar, near Salina, shook nearby buildings and shattered windows. No people were killed. A nearby farmer and his son were injured. Political leaders offered sympathy and thanked first responders. The explosion soon appeared in international news.

Several animals were injured and killed in the blast, including race horses, and concerns were  raised over the contamination of food and feed.

Veronica Camilleri, who has resided in the area for over five decades, described the damage to her property to Amphora Media.

“Hinges and hooks flew off the doors, windows burst open, and anything on the windowsill was destroyed. My husband and I had minor scratches on our arms from the debris. We also had our boundary wall dislodged.”

“With every noise I hear now, I jump out of my skin. My husband, if he wakes up at night, can’t get back to sleep.”

She says she has filed a police report and started an insurance claim. Malta Today has reported that over 50 police reports of damage to livestock and property have been filed. The MaYA Foundation, which represents young farmers, has invited all affected farmers to reach out: “no one should feel that they have to face these challenges alone”.

This is not the first time the site has blown up. And in the years since the last explosion, the factory has been built partly without sanction, expanded with the regulator’s approval, and supported by public money to improve safety.

Who runs the factory?

Ghaqda Piroteknika 11 ta’ Frar San Gwann, a registered voluntary organisation, has declared that the factory in the Ta’ Qadi area is theirs.

Planning Authority filings indicate that it is built on government land and used by the San Gwann fireworks association. The Malta Pyrotechnic Association says farmers made the land available to fireworks enthusiasts in the 1980s.

Photos on the San Gwann association’s own Facebook page show men handling piles of explosives, both outdoors and indoors.

Planning Authority filings note a lack of nearby water hydrants, a gap that was predicted to make the work of first responders considerably harder.

Francis Xuereb is the president of the association, and the applicant on PA filings for the Ta’ Lourdes Factory. 

When asked, he told Amphora Media that he would not respond to questions regarding the incident. He said that neither he nor the fireworks association had responsibility over the land. He insisted he could not respond to questions when he was told his name was listed on the application. After the earlier explosion at the same factory, he told the media that everybody working with fireworks was duly licensed by the police.

In a statement following the explosion, the association claimed that, thanks to Our Mother of Lourdes, the firework technicians were unharmed. The association thanked emergency responders for their assistance.

2018: A Previous Explosion

The site has exploded before. In 2018, a blast destroyed part of the complex. At the time, Xuereb, as the Association’s President, said seven people were inside, two of whom suffered grievous injuries.

The factory had built unsanctioned structures, subject to PA fines. In June 2025, the Planning Authority approved the factory’s application to sanction building extensions, to build extra rooms and a water reservoir. The Building & Construction Authority validated the application’s declaration required for the works just last month.

For the application, the fireworks factory received a report from Fireworks Factory Complexes Policy Technical Committee, which instructed the factory to make sure that blast walls are kept empty, that an open shed is not used for fireworks manufacturing, and that vegetation on site and, when possible, in adjacent fields is cleared.

Supported by the government

The Lourdes fireworks factory was among those selected for the Arts Council Scheme to improve infrastructure and safety, allocating €5,000 per factory since 2018. The Arts Council’s annual report for 2021 shows that the association was allocated €5,000 for paving entryways and passages.

Asked whether it confirmed that security was improved, the Arts Council did not reply.

The factory was included among the Valletta 2018 locations.

“No one here is against fireworks, because they’re our tradition and they’re pretty,” says Veronica Camilleri, who has been living in the area before the fireworks factory was built and has suffered from the latest explosion. “But it is a dangerous – let’s call it – industry, so it has to be checked regularly, to see what they’re doing, how much they’re storing, how they’re storing it.”

What are fireworks manufacturers’ obligations?

By law, all individuals involved in the manufacture, storage, and discharge of fireworks must be trained and hold a licence from the police. For this, they must be recommended by a licensee, attend a course and pass an interview.

The police spokesperson did not reply when asked about the breakdown of licence holders allowed to work in this factory.

It is forbidden to manufacture fireworks without a licence. Only persons with specified types of licences are allowed to handle fireworks in factories, and a holder of the highest (A) licence category is in charge. Also, according to the law, any maintenance personnel must be authorised by the divisional police inspector responsible for the district and accompanied by the licensee of the fireworks factory. 
Regulations require that persons who discharge fireworks, which means setting them off insure their operations against a sum of €300,000, covering damage to third parties too. But manufacturing and storage are not mentioned.

Malta Pyrotechnic Association has appointed Global Insurance Brokers Limited to provide insurance for fireworks manufacturers. Commenting on the explosion, Global Insurance Brokers said this only covers transit and displays of fireworks during events. Malta Pyrotechnic Association did not reply to Amphora Media’s questions.

According to the law, in case of any breach of regulations, the Police Commissioner shall suspend the licence issued to the licensee, and/or any other person directly involved in the contravention. The police spokesperson declined to comment on the case while a magisterial inquiry and police investigations are ongoing.

• Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the EU’s flagship funding stream for farms, mainly benefits road building, wineries, the poultry sector and Project Green in Malta;
• Project Green was the largest single beneficiary of the  €166 million fund, receiving €15.8 million, with no clear links to farming.
• Over €1.2 million went to Infrastructure Malta road-building projects.
• The authority claims it benefited over 308,508 persons from the ‘rural population’, which is more than half of Malta’s population, and dwarfs the number of registered farmers.
• Wine producers benefited from CAP’s basic income and environmental measures.
• Montekristo, which ran unsanctioned operations until 2025, also benefited.
• Farmers’ representatives have repeatedly voiced their needs: help acquiring land, reduced bureaucracy, and market access. “I had to drive around the island on the day of the deadline to find the right office,” farmer Cane Vella said about bureaucracy.
• At an average of over €201,000 per hectare, the purchase price of arable land in Malta is by far the highest in the EU, while rental rates are far below the EU average at €91 per hectare.
• CAP distribution is questioned not only in Malta; reporting from Italy shows that the selection process disadvantages small farmers who market products locally, even though small farms were historically dominant in Italy.

This investigation is part of Senza Segnale, a collaborative project. Together with Facta, Amphora Media reviewed who benefits the most from CAP and who is left out.

In Malta, most EU farm subsidies do not reach farmers. Data shows a large proportion went to roads and infrastructure investments. Wineries, the poultry sector and even Project Green scored big.

An analysis by Amphora Media of data published by fondi.eu and the Agriculture and Rural Payments Agency (ARPA) indicates that, since 2023, the majority of funds under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have been captured by government bodies, while individual farmers have received a much smaller share.

“There is an office in Ta’ Qali with fifty farmers sitting half a day waiting,” farmer Cane Vella says of applying for a young farmer subsidy. “When you get inside, it’s very rushed.”

When the European Commission approved Malta’s CAP plan in 2022, Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo said that European Funds “will continue to assist all workers in this field.”

“The EU scheme is straightforward, but land registration is not,” Vella says. “There is no handbook.” Farmers’ representatives echoed the lack of coordination and strategic vision among government entities.

How does the EU fund Maltese farming?

The CAP is one of the 19 EU funding streams implemented by the government. It is financed through the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

In Malta, the Funds and Programmes Division within the Ministry for the European Funds oversees CAP funds as the managing authority. Applications and payments are processed by the ARPA. 

CAP goals include supporting farmers to help them “make a reasonable living”, sustainable management of natural resources, and keeping the rural economy “alive” by promoting jobs in farming, agri-food industries and associated sectors. 

Between 2023 and 2027, Malta will distribute a total of €166 million (EU funds and Maltese co-financing). 

Pillar 1: direct payments to farmers

Pillar 1 consists primarily of a direct income supplement for farmers to ensure their income stability and to recognise other benefits, including their role in caring for the countryside. This is entirely EU-funded.

Across the EU, nearly two-thirds of CAP funds are paid out this way. Between 2023 and 2027, nearly €43 million has been allocated to these direct payments in Malta.

Basic income support is evenly distributed, with the top 10 recipients sharing around 2% of the pot. The largest beneficiaries, Meridiana and Marsovin wineries, received over €26,500 between them.

Pillar 2: rural development and investments

In Malta, the first pillar is dwarfed by Pillar 2, which funds rural development measures including infrastructure, training schemes, and other investments.

Here, unlike Pillar 1, national governments co-finance and select projects under a national programme.

In Malta, EU funding for Pillar 2 is set at nearly €100 million for the funding period (around €76 million in EU funds and more than €41 million in national contribution).

Malta’s Government is the Major Winner

The published list of Pillar 2-funded projects shows that government bodies were the substantial beneficiaries of CAP funds:

• Around €40 million in EU funding, or 65% of allocated Pillar 2 funds, went to the central government.
• If entities like the Public Abattoir and the University of Malta, a public university, are included, the public sector’s share rises to nearly €42 million in EU funding, or 68% of Pillar 2.
• In contrast, farmers were collectively allocated almost €14 million in EU funds from this (rural development) pot. 

ARPA’s data shows that in 2023-2024, public sector entities accounted for the largest share of total funds disbursed.

The Ministry for Gozo and Planning received funding from three measures, the largest payment being for Investments in physical assets – over €986,000.

‘Local’ Funds for Project Green

The largest share of EU rural development funds went to support region-based local action groups, which together were allocated over €20 million to projects worth around €25 million.

Project Green, a centralised government agency, was the single largest CAP beneficiary, receiving €15.8 million, more than any individual local action group, which received some €1.4 million each, despite guidelines stating it is intended for non-profit local action groups.

Project Green’s CAP funds have been used to clean up Wied Għajn Riħana, remove illegally dumped waste, and support ‘afforestation’.

Project Green and ARPA did not respond to questions.

Read more about the workings of Project Green

Water Upgrades: Useful, But Not for All

The second-largest chunk of EU funds, €14.8 million, went to Water Services Corporation (WSC) for “Upgrading The Production Capacity of Reclaimed Water in Gozo and Malta North”.

In 2024, WSC distributed 1.5 million cubic meters of New Water: 0.35 million in Gozo, 0.77 million in Mellieha, and 0.37 million in Marsaskala. WSC reports that more than 1,800 registered users of the water supply

“The issue is that it is very unreliable. Sometimes there’s water, sometimes there’s no water,” Malcolm Borg of Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi, a farmers’ organisation, told Amphora Media.

“Not all farmers get this new water,” he continued. “This is causing a bit of unfair competition.”

In an interview with TVM, a farmer who lacked access to recycled water said he spent at least €4,000 per year irrigating his land.

A farm map by Friends of the Earth Malta shows a high number of farms in Rabat (Malta), Attard, Zebbug (Malta), and other areas that are not covered by New Water dispensers.

The Western district, for example, had the largest number of agricultural holdings (as of 2020), yet it is not served by recycled water.

In a government consultation, one part-time farmer wrote that a recycled water connection he applied for “never worked” and remained out of service for nearly a year.

Road building takes over a million euros in CAP

Published data show that Infrastructure Malta was allocated over €1.2 million to “improve accessibility to farmland”.

For 2023, ARPA reported that 308,508 persons benefited from this as part of the “rural population”. This is more than half of Malta’s population, and far surpasses the number of registered farmers.

“Farmers sometimes complain that their road is not [great], but it is very low on the priority list of farmers,” Malcom Borg told Amphora Media.

“Agricultural fields are being used for recreational purposes – those people want good vehicle access to rural areas,” he claimed.

“Improvement in rural roads was an investment that was long overdue. But there are other pressing matters that need more attention and are not necessarily solved through funding, but through more organised public administration,” comments Jeanette Borg, who has founded and runs the Malta Youth in Agriculture Foundation for young farmers.

The organisation she leads has been active in policy dialogue.

In October, it brought together farmers, students, and tech industry representatives to develop ideas for tackling land access and water resilience, among other issues.

One of the key discussions centred around the question “Why are farmers often forced to choose short-term survival over long-term investments such as training and marketing?”

“We’re an arid country. It’s getting worse, so I would prioritise building reservoirs and research about pest control,” Jeanette Borg said. “Farmers face many stumbling blocks by the Planning Authority in building reservoirs, and we do not even have a national lab that can test for pesticide residues.”

Borg also co-authored a study on young farmers. It showed that the main challenges they identified were resources, market issues, and a lack of assistance from authorities.

She is adamant that Malta must fix its food production system before trying to entice young people to become farmers.

The Malta Food Agency and the Ministry for Gozo and Planning emerged among other top CAP Pillar 2 beneficiaries, as did AgriConnect, an advisory service for farmers.

Emanuel Ciappara, a chicken-farm operator, was the only farmer to make the list of top 10 beneficiaries of Pillar 2 schemes.

“My clients are already benefitting from the funding received through the latest machinery and innovations in the poultry sector and are currently enlarging the production capacity to meet the demand for local poultry that is a staple for a healthy diet,” a lawyer representing Ciappara said in response to Amphora’s questions about the grant awarded.

CAP funding is at odds with farmers’ needs

Farmers’ representatives say the most urgently needed interventions are elsewhere. Unaffordable land, overexploited aquifers, competition and complicated bureaucracy are acute pressures.

Unaffordable Land:

Eurostat shows that, at over €201,000 per hectare on average, the purchase price of arable land in Malta is by far the highest in the EU, although renting land is well below the EU average and cheaper than in most countries, at €91 per hectare.

“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 says.

Bureaucracy:

“I’m afraid that the applications are very complicated, and most farmers would not have the knowledge of how to fill these in,” Jeanette Borg told Amphora Media.

“There are two major departments or entities that are stumbling blocks: the Lands Authority and Planning Authority.”

Approximately half of the total declared land and of used agrarian land is rented from the government and, according to Malcolm Borg, “is managed disastrously”.

Jeanette Borg agrees. “The Lands [Authority] is not organised, and whenever farmers go to change the tenureship, it’s a nightmare,” she told Amphora.

“I had to drive around the island on the day of the deadline to find the right office,” farmer Cane Vella remembers about his experience applying for a subsidy.

Lands Authority and the Ministry for European Funds and the Implementation of the Electoral Programme did not reply to Amphora’s questions.

Local farmers face significant competition from foreign exports:

Malta relies heavily on agri-food imports from other EU countries, exporting very little. Its agri-food trade with non-EU countries, including the UK, is more balanced.

Malta buys at least €155.6 million worth of agricultural produce from Italy, its top importer of animal and vegetable products, accounting for nearly a quarter of all imports.

However, research by Facta, our partners in this investigation, shows that small Italian farms struggle equally with access to land and credit, as the CAP system favours economies of scale.

Small and local Italian farms also disproportionately suffer from ‘informatisation’ of agriculture – having to submit indicators to relevant authorities for monitoring, Italian wine researcher Alessandra Biondi Bartolini told Facta.

“Those operating in disadvantaged or remote areas often lack a reliable internet connection, which becomes a major obstacle: these are people who have to get off the tractor and go into an office, and time is scarce,” she explained. Facta also notes that farmers cannot apply for subsidies directly – they must use consultants, who take a cut.

Read our partners’ stories in Italian: by Facta and by IRPI Media

How are the subsidies reaching farmers?

Large farm projects (worth over €30,000) accounted for the third-largest share of EU CAP funds in Malta, benefiting 104 farmers, with average projects below €120,000.

A €1.95 million scheme supported 393 farmers with small on-farm investments, averaging €4,961 each, for equipment and upgrades.

To apply for support, farmers must show they can cover the remaining 40% of costs, either with their own funds or a bank loan.

Ensuring that expenses are eligible is a challenge, says Cane Vella, as farm expenses are diverse and sometimes unexpected.

“Engine failures. Implements breaking. Pump failures. Rats eating pipes. Hailstorm destroying crops. These are just a few common occurrences,” he lists these unexpected costs.

“Farmers say: Don’t make orders before the subsidy is in your bank account,” he says.

Who benefits most: private operators and CAP funding

The list of private individuals benefiting from subsidies is published without identifiers, making their areas of activity difficult to verify.

Among the largest 2023-2024 beneficiaries that applied as legal persons were:

When asked to explain why an event caterer and a communications company received agricultural subsidies, ARPA promised to respond. Weeks later, its reply was still not ready.

Animal products get a strong focus in CAP

The choice of which sectors CAP supports has received international criticism.

“The CAP has always favoured intensive agricultural species like cereals, corn, etc, along with livestock. It has never been a tool in favour of maintaining small multifunctional farms, nor of the agro-ecological transition,” says Italian agronomist Riccardo Bocci.

In terms of production value at basic prices, vegetables and horticulture (growing garden plants) in Malta account for by far the highest share, a third (33%) of all output value. They are followed by milk (20%), eggs (12%) and poultry (10%).

Jeanette Borg and colleagues’ study found a strong interest in fruit and vegetable farming among young farmers: a third of those surveyed grow fruit and vegetables, although many also raise cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs.

Malta’s CAP subsidies show a strong focus on animal products.

This is not unique to Malta and has been criticised by four major environmental networks in a joint report, where they argued against the use of CAP funds for “on measures that encourage large-scale unsustainable farming”, notably livestock, across the EU.

Chicken farmer Emanuel Ciappara is the private farmer to be allocated more than €1 million in CAP funds during the current financing period. He is also the largest beneficiary of the Maltese CAP’s “On-Farm Productive Investments”. 

His project, an “Investment in new state-of-the-art broiler production facilities and ancillary machinery”, is estimated to cost over €2 million out of an indicative budget of €10 million for this measure.

A lawyer representing Ciappara and his companies said he is “a self-employed poultry breeder and he personally operates a poultry farm, breeding poultry, in his own personal name, separately and distinctly from [a separate beneficiary] C & K Ciappara & Sons Limited” – the funds received are “to upgrade and expand his poultry breeding operations”.

The dairy sector is considered to be strategically important to Malta, maintaining stable milk production since Malta joined the EU despite the number of raw milk suppliers shrinking in half between 2003 and 2019. 

Malta Dairy Products, the owner of the Benna brand and a ‘quasi-monopoly’ of fresh milk, was allocated over €450,000 in EU subsidies during the current period.

Data provided by ARPA shows that over the current period, 223 eligible applications from dairy farms, 226 from sheep farms, 85 from beef farms and 29 under a livestock measure were received.

Wines benefit from CAP’s environmental measures

Vineyards are the largest recipients of funds and measures designed to pay farmers directly for environmentally beneficial practices, a part of CAP’s focus.

According to ARPA’s data for the current funding period, no farmer applied under the biodegradable mulch measure, only eight applied under the biodiversity scheme, 124 applied under the integrated pest management scheme, and 11 applied under the organic farming scheme.

Montekristo benefits from CAP despite irregularities

One of the largest recipients is Montekristo Vineyards Ltd, established in 2003, and owned and run by Carmel (known as Charles) and Paul Polidano. 

Montekristo received agricultural subsidies in 2023 and 2024, after the Planning Authority had issued enforcement notices for illegal building in an agricultural area on this site, which also features a concrete plant and a batching plant.

Charles Polidano’s 2009 and 2010 applications to sanction Montekristo’s family park, including an illegal zoo and an extension of its winery, in Siggiewi, were approved by the Planning Authority in July 2025 despite pending court cases concerning the site.

Wine making on the site can be traced to 2005, when the group obtained permission to convert a pig farm into a winery and vineyard, and later to expand it. However, case files indicate that the area used for winemaking was to be limited.

Today, Montekristo is identified as one of Malta’s main wine producers. In 2014, the Times of Malta reported that it had already received agricultural subsidies intended for farmers in disadvantaged areas. 

Montekristo group did not respond to repeated attempts to reach it for comment.

What the people wanted

The latest EU regulation on CAP acknowledges that “Member States should have the option to design a specific intervention for small farmers replacing the other direct payments interventions”.

Yet, international NGOs have noted that “the EU’s CAP has largely failed several of its objectives. It failed farmers, who continue to leave the sector en masse and are hit by one crisis after another. It also failed to address environmental issues, and in some cases even exacerbated them”.

A survey among Maltese residents found that nearly all consider agriculture important for the future, yet an overwhelming majority would sacrifice EU agriculture’s competitiveness to fight climate change.

Nearly a third — more than the EU average — hold farmers responsible for protecting the environment, and half are ready to pay more for climate-friendly products.

Against this backdrop of criticism, public concern and policy reform, the debate over CAP’s future remains far from settled. While many farmers continue to struggle financially, expectations of the sector — particularly on climate and environmental protection — are only increasing.

“Farmers are living in economic poverty, but are rich in other ways,” Cane Vella concludes.

This investigation is part of Senza Segnale, a collaborative project that reconnects news deserts in the Mediterranean.

Senza Segnale is a project by Amphora Media and IrpiMedia, in collaboration with Fada, Facta, Indip, Infonodes, Centro di Giornalismo Permanente, in cooperation with the Allianz Foundation.

Giulia Bonelli (Facta) contributed reporting. Rui Baros contributed data scraping.