Exporting Abortion quantified abortion access in Europe for the first time – and how, despite the progress made in the attainment of this right, thousands of women across Europe are forced to cross the borders of their home countries to access an abortion.

Locally, the investigation, authored by Joanna Demarco, revealed how, among other findings, Spain has surpassed the UK in the number of women from Malta travelling there to have an abortion, and that there were over 2,000 self-managed abortions in Malta in the last five years, despite the country’s near blanket ban.

The report also further revealed how abortion pill shipments into Malta had also doubled in four years, in a climate where travelling for abortion is up to 25 times more expensive.

On 11th March, the same day the award was won, a woman was sentenced to an 18-month prison term, suspended for three years, after being found guilty of inducing her own abortion using medication in 2024.

The investigation was coordinated by Público (Spain) and was conducted by journalists from across the continent and published by 11 media outlets. 

Documents show a private intelligence firm sought details on the “business, political and personal” vulnerabilities of government officials directing proceedings against the concession provider.

A private intelligence firm hired by Steward Healthcare sought to identify the “pressure points” and “vulnerabilities” of individuals within the Maltese government directing proceedings against the hospital concession provider, both in official and unofficial capacities.

Documents seen by Amphora Media and the Times of Malta reveal that CT Group, a UK-based private intelligence firm, asked Steward to map out individuals, their political priorities, and their vulnerabilities “in business, political and personal terms” that they could “target”.

CT Group also requested information on the relationships between these officials and former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who has been charged over his role in the hospital concession deal, and whether those ties could “influence” their behaviour.

The firm sought detailed profiles of the parties involved, including their preferred outcomes and, crucially, what Steward could “offer” that would be “acceptable” to resolve the dispute.

It also asked Steward to outline weaknesses in the government’s position on the concession.

In a reply to questions sent, CT said its “position is clearly set out in our previous emails to Times of Malta, OCCRP, and Boston Globe, dated 14, 17, 21, and 28 June 2024, in response to assertions made and questions asked by them at that time.”

“We have nothing to add to what we said in those emails,” it said.

Joseph Muscat said he “would be more than open to give comments”, but due to a court order, he “is prevented from making any comment on issues relating to the Hospital’s concession.”

A previous investigation by OCCRP, the Boston Globe and the Times of Malta , supported by the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, revealed that Steward paid over €6.5 million to private intelligence firms CT Group and Audere to conduct surveillance and disinformation operations against its critics.

The costs of this intelligence work were paid by Steward’s Malta subsidiary, which was largely funded by Maltese taxpayers.

It was coordinated by senior Steward executives who corresponded regularly with private spies, according to emails, encrypted messages, and financial records.

Steward executives prioritised paying these intelligence firms, which sometimes charged the company as much as $170,000 per month, even as bills for critical medical services in its U.S. hospitals went unpaid.

The investigation revealed how Steward corresponded with the intelligence firms about “false flag” operations against a critic who ran a financial research company that issued a negative report about Steward.

That critic was later spied on in his home and followed, according to surveillance reports in the possession of Audere obtained by OCCRP.

Audere also collected embarrassing personal information and photographs of a former Steward employee after Steward feared he would leak financial information to its auditor.

Steward had also engaged CT Group, to target then-Health Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne as their main “opponent” of its concession. It created a report alleging the minister had taken a large bribe, which was then circulated to journalists.

Fearne, who has himself been charged over the hospitals’ scandal, demanded a police investigation into the smear campaign.

Dallas-headquartered Steward Health Care was awarded a €2.1-billion Maltese government contract in 2018 to renovate and manage three public hospitals.

Although Fearne initially backed Steward taking over the contract from Vitals Global Healthcare in February 2018, the relationship appears to have soured thereafter. 

By 2021, senior Steward staff contemplated suing Fearne and Malta’s government in the US, where they planned to allege extortion and solicitation of bribes, a leaked email shows. 

No lawsuit followed, however, former Steward Malta director Armin Ernst appeared to have kept tabs on Fearne, and operations codenamed ‘Project Albacore’ and ‘Project Bluefin’ were launched, e-mails and documents show. 

In a December 2021 e-mail, Ernst flagged a media report claiming irregularities linked to the Foundation for Medical Services, which fell under Fearne and the Foundation’s former CEO, Carmen Ciantar’s remit. 

That same month, Steward directed its law firm, Quinn Emanuel, to hire CT Group, an intelligence firm whose staff includes the UK government’s former counter-terrorism chief. 

In July 2022, CT Group pledged to “deploy into the public domain information about the main opponent of the Client’s concession in Malta” in a commercial proposal obtained by OCCRP. The aim was to identify “improper” behaviour and leak it anonymously to Maltese media.

A Maltese court annulled Steward’s hospital concession in 2023, citing an audit that found “collusion between Steward and senior government officials or its agencies” and called the deal “fraudulent.

The inquiry led to corruption and money-laundering charges against Malta’s former Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, who was arraigned in court in May alongside more than two dozen others, including Fearne, connected to the hospital deal. All have pleaded not guilty.

It took over the contract from Vitals Global Healthcare, which signed its 30-year concession in September 2015.

However,  journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia revealed months earlier that the government had already struck a deal with Oxley Capital Group, a Singaporean private investment firm, for the refurbishment of the Gozo and St Luke’s hospitals.

After acquiring an unredacted version of the contract, Times of Malta revealed that the government and VGH had signed a memorandum of understanding by February 2015, two months before the request for proposal was issued.

If you have any information you would like to share, please feel free to reach out to julian@amphora.media or contact us on Whatsapp

• Malta issued over 326,000 single permits between 2015 and 2024.
• Nearly all single permit holders in Malta arrive for 12 months or more.
• The share of EU citizens among immigrants (for any reason) has shrunk during the post-pandemic recovery.
• In 2015, the share of employees and people applying for other reasons (including retirement) was about equal. By 2024, employment overshadowed the ‘other’ category.

Malta’s population has grown by over 100,000 in a decade. Behind the headline figures lies a deeper transformation; the country’s migration system is shifting away from residents and retirees attracted by favourable tax rates and weather towards large-scale import of non-EU labour.

An Amphora Media analysis of Eurostat data shows that, over the past ten years, Malta has rebuilt its migration model around non-EU workers recruited at scale to sustain rapid economic growth.

In 2015, employment-based migration stood on roughly equal footing with other forms of residence, a category that includes self-funded retirement. By 2024, employment had become the overwhelmingly dominant route into the country for third-country nationals, while self-funded retirement, coupled with other minor pathways, have lost their prominence.

EU countries like Malta can issue residence permits for various types of stay, including permits covered by EU law. A single permit combines a residence and a work permit, allowing its holder a brief period of unemployment as well, without losing their residence. It is the most common employment residence permit, but there are others.

Malta issued over 326,000 single permits between 2015 and 2024. Their number ballooned 11 times over the period, reaching 67,392, up from 5,970 issued in 2015.

Even during the pandemic, the number of such permits dipped very slightly, and peaked in 2023 at just over 70 thousand. The numbers include renewed permits.

Unlike countries like Lithuania or Portugal, Malta is not actively using this system for short-term, seasonal work. Nearly 9 in 10 single permit holders in Malta are there longer-term – for 12 months or more.

The number of longer-term permit holders has been soaring since 2018, consistent with the government’s policy changes that have made the recruitment of non-EU nationals easier since 2017.

Source: Eurostat

Immigration data shows how non-EU citizens overtook EU citizens. The share of EU citizens among immigrants (for any reason) further shrank during the post-pandemic recovery.

Source: Eurostat. Note: EU countries include the UK until 2020

From 2021, UK citizens need a work permit in Malta. After a post-pandemic growth, their number has been declining, with 203 new British workers in 2024.

By 2024, employment had become the main gateway into Malta for non-EU nationals, accounting for half of all new arrivals, with education representing a further quarter. 

The figures below break down residence permits by purpose.

Employment

Over 119,200 first residence permits for employment purposes were issued between 2015 and 2024. This is not the same as the number of workers, as some may have left or changed their residence status.

Indian nationals received the most permits, a fifth of the total issued, followed by Nepalese, Filipino, Serbian and Colombian citizens.

Several of these nationalities are also among Malta’s most deported.

In 2024, the number of first permits was as follows.

Source: Eurostat

Top nationalities in 2015-2024

Source: Eurostat

Highly qualified individuals can obtain an EU Blue Card and reside in Malta with it. 

Between 2015 and 2024, Malta issued only 27 new permits on this basis: Russians, Americans and Indians received three cards each.

Education

Between 2015 and 2024, a total of 40,180 residence permits were issued for educational purposes, with Indians (7,898 permits) and Colombians (7,239 permits) topping the list. 

In 2015-2016, only a handful of Indians came to study in Malta, but the number shot up to hundreds in 2017 and nearly tripled between 2022 and 2023.

Hundreds of Colombians had been coming to study in Malta already in 2015-2016, but new arrivals first exceeded 1,000 in 2022.

Top nationalities of residence permit recipients for education

Source: Eurostat

Family

Residence for family reasons is a separate status. The number of such first permits peaked in 2023 at over 3,000. Between 2015 and 2024, the main nationalities receiving these permits were as follows.

Main nationalities of permit recipients residing for family reasons

Source: Eurostat

Most new recipients of family permits joined another non-EU citizen already living in Malta. There were almost 2,600 in 2024, with 537 non-EU citizens joining an EU citizen living in Malta (the most common nationality among these is British).

Other reasons

Residence permits can also be issued for other reasons, which include financially independent retired persons, non-asylum discretionary permissions to stay, and diplomats. Eurostat also collects data on residents with international protection statuses (refugee status and subsidiary protection).

In Greece and Italy, over half of first-time resident permit holders in 2024 applied for one of these reasons, but in Malta, the share was under 16%. 

In 2015, the share of employees and people applying for other reasons (including retirement) was about equal, but employment has since overshadowed this other category.

Source: Eurostat. Note: the drop in employment-based residence permits likely reflects changes in the Temporary Work Agencies legislation.

In 2020, when Brexit changed the status of UK citizens, making them third-country nationals, it was estimated that around 8,000 retired Brits were living in Malta. 

The number of first permits for other reasons (including retirement) has recovered after a pandemic dip and soared in 2023 and 2024, reaching nearly 4,700.

In 2024, 4,073 residence permits were issued by Identita through the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP), the Malta Residency and Visa Programme (MRVP), and the Nomad scheme for digital nomads (the latter accounted for 1,031 of this number).

Eurostat data also contains statistics on ‘residence’ as a reason. China and Russia top the list of over 11,400 recipients between 2015 and 2024.

Top nationalities with ‘residence’ as a reason for permit

Source: Eurostat

Meanwhile, a total of 5,242 people received refugee status or subsidiary protection between 2015 and 2024, with the top nationalities being Syria and Libya. Contrary to leading politicians’ claims, the contribution of asylum seekers and refugees to Malta’s rapid population growth is minimal.

Asylum applications in Malta have been in steep decline, with the government praising this trend amid increased deportations. In 2025, Amphora Media reported on pushbacks to Libya to decrease arrivals.

In totality, this significant shift in migration policy, geared towards imported labour from non-EU countries, is reshaping towns and neighbourhoods as explored in Amphora Media’s Landscapes of Change investigation.

This is one of two stories about two vastly different Mediterranean communities struggling with overtourism produced through the collaborative project Senza Segnale, involving journalists from Malta and Italy. One focuses on a lively city and tourist destination – Palermo – but this one is about my suburban hometown of Swieqi, a place with little to offer tourists yet deeply impacted by tourism nevertheless. Published in collaboration with Newsbook.

The Suburbanites’ Protest

A few dozen people who gathered in Swieqi on the last Sunday of August ensured that Malta joined tourist destinations across southern Europe in protesting against overtourism last year, though the choice of venue may seem strange to outside eyes.

Swieqi, which emerged as a fast-growing suburb of neighbouring St Julians in the 1960s, is far from a tourist destination. Home to over 15,000 people, it has no beaches, no notable attractions, few venues for socialising. Two hotels were torn down years ago, and the only collective accommodation left are an aparthotel and two guesthouses with around 80 rooms among them, with planning policies that effectively preclude the development of new ones.

Calling Swieqi boring is not unreasonable, but it is centrally located on a small island and is widely considered a desirable place to live. And boring means quiet; or at least it used to.

The Holiday Flat Loophole

But Swieqi’s restrictions on touristic development have been rendered worthless by a phenomenon that has transformed tourism: a sharp rise in holiday rentals, fuelled by rise of Airbnb and other online platforms making them readily accessible to travellers across globe.

It is a phenomenon that caught authorities unprepared, as Swieqi itself shows: while it is mostly designated as a “residential priority area” in which tourist accommodation is prohibited, holiday rentals are still treated as ordinary residences under Maltese planning law.

Any home can thus be turned into licensed “holiday premises,” circumventing policies drawn up before a flood of tourist rentals could have been foreseen.

A complex of holiday flats on Swieqi Road is but one example of this anomaly: it was built after a planned guesthouse was refused a permit as it was deemed unsuited to a residential area.

This road has become a hotspot for holiday rentals as it leads straight to Malta’s main nightlife district of Paceville: an underpass beneath the Regional Road, one of Malta’s main roads, is all that separates the two.

Many listings emphasise the proximity to Paceville: some do not even mention Swieqi at all.

Worse than Barcelona

Official statistics present an unenviable scenario for Malta and Swieqi: the proportion of tourist rentals is markedly higher than in the city notable for fighting back.

Barcelona, home to nearly 1.7 million people – roughly three times Malta’s population – had just over 10,000 licensed tourist flats in 2024, when its mayor confirmed they would be banned for good by 2029.

The number of licensed holiday premises in Malta reached 7,649 by the start of February, and Swieqi – home to 2.7% of the national population – hosts 5% of them, with 386 licensed premises providing 2,079 bed spaces.

Actual numbers may well be considerably higher when unlicensed premises are taken into account: an exercise carried out last summer identified 432 active Swieqi listings on Airbnb alone.

Malta thus has more than twice as many short-term rentals per capita – and Swieqi roughly four times as many – as Barcelona, despite national tourist numbers that still fall far short of what the city receives.

No Slow Season

Malta’s tourism numbers are growing rapidly, as is the case with many other Mediterranean destinations, facilitated by low-cost flights and holiday rentals which have helped make travel more accessible.

Tourist numbers had been stable for around two decades until the early 2010s, with Malta welcoming a little more than 1 million tourists a year, but have risen dramatically since.

Malta welcomed more than 2 million tourists in 2017, and the 3 million mark was surpassed in 2024, with 3.56 million travellers. That record was surpassed by November 2025, and the country may well have surpassed the 4 million mark by the end of the year: three times as many as it had received just 15 years prior.

Consequently, while tourism in Malta remains seasonal, peaking in summer, one cannot really speak of a “slow” season anymore.

No less than 200,000 people visited Malta in February 2025, in what is historically the slowest month of the year.

Given these figures, it is perhaps unsurprising that all Swieqi residents I spoke to suggested that the situation took a marked turn for the worse around a decade ago.

“It doesn’t end now: it’s slightly less intense, but it’s continuous,” Arnold Cassola, who organised the August protest in which he decried Swieqi’s transformation into “Paceville’s daytime dormitory,” explains. “You could plan around July and August before, but it’s not like that anymore.”

Noise disturbances are a regular complaint, whether through house parties from partygoers walking to or from their flat, often while drunk or intoxicated. This foot traffic often leads to other nuisances, including vandalism and the odd fight. Garbage is another chronic concern: the waste generated in tourist rentals is often brought out at inappropriate times, and often remains uncollected for days. 

The Council’s Crusade

Given the chance, Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat would likely follow Barcelona’s lead and ban short-term rentals outright: a proposal by the council he leads would effectively do so. But Maltese local councils have no authority to do anything of the sort on their own.

The lack of powers – limited since they were created in 1993, and reduced further over time – is an evident source of frustration for Muscat, not least since the local council bears the brunt of complaints it cannot directly address. Tourist accommodation licensing is under the Malta Tourism Authority, and local councils can no longer set waste collection schedules after a single national schedule was introduced.

What they can do is speak up, express their concerns and present proposals, and while the local council has done so, it is futile if the authorities prove unwilling to respond. This is laid bare by a document Muscat provides: a letter prepared for a meeting the council held with the minister for tourism a full decade ago, on February 2016.

In that letter, Muscat highlighted that the number of short-lets had “mushroomed” in Swieqi, causing its inhabitants stress “in the form of noise disturbances, sometimes vandalism and even cleanliness,” and pleaded for regulations that would make it possible to maintain order and address abuse.

But this plea went unheard, with Muscat observing that if short-lets were mushrooming then, “now they’re spreading like wildfire.”

It went a step further last year, presenting no fewer than 12 proposals, including requiring tourist rentals to be classified more accurately as commercial properties. The council also called for a moratorium on new licenses until carrying capacity studies are conducted and for strict limits to be set on the number of tourist rentals in every Maltese locality.

The Protest Organiser

Few people have lived in Swieqi as long as Cassola, an academic and veteran politician who presently chairs the political party Momentum: his family had moved to what was then a nascent suburb in 1972, when he was a teenager. He moved back to his late parents’ home a few years ago, after spending much of his life in a nearby apartment, a move which gives him some space from short-lets, in contrast to his former apartment.

But it’s still very close to Paceville, and his street sees considerable foot traffic accordingly.

Beyond countless incidents of drunk partygoers urinating at his doorstep, he’s had a car mirror broken no less than three times.

Through his Facebook page “Arnold’s Citizen Watch,” he regularly airs the grievances of people from around the country, so it is perhaps unsurprising that he is involved in his hometown’s struggle against overtourism.

His efforts have included launching a parliamentary petition calling for urgent action on the “misuse of tourist rentals in residential areas,” which attracted 2,373 signatures, but he felt a protest was necessary as summer arrived and tempers flared.

In part, Cassola was inspired by growing community activism in Swieqi and beyond: he made a point of inviting residents’ groups from other areas similarly bearing the brunt of overtourism. But the protest was also organised in response to growing anger and in a bid to pre-empt plans for more disruptive actions, which he feared would backfire, including a proposed protest which would have dumped rubbish bags outside the prime minister’s office to highlight Swieqi’s own garbage crisis.

The Former Minister Claiming Maladministration

Another prominent community voice which emerged in the summer was Evarist Bartolo, a government minister between 2013 and 2022 as part of the governing Labour Party and a Swieqi resident for over 30 years. A former journalist and lecturer in journalism – my thesis supervisor, as it happens – Bartolo has now drawn the curtain on his political career, but like Cassola, maintains an active presence on Facebook, regularly sharing his reflections. He readily endorsed the protest, and while was unable to attend it, prepared a message which was read out on his behalf.

As far as Swieqi residents are concerned, Bartolo and I can both count ourselves lucky: neither of us are particularly affected by holiday rentals, even though his home is closer to Paceville than mine. Still, he is regularly approached by fellow residents hoping he could be their voice, often Labour supporters in what is a stronghold of the Nationalist Party, which has enjoyed a strong majority at the council since its inception.

Bartolo has no compunction about calling out his former colleagues in government as the stories pour in. He is adamant that the authorities have been guilty of maladministration in managing tourist rentals, and has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate accordingly.

As one example, he takes aim at the very structure of Malta’s tourism authority, which has the dual – and seemingly conflicting – role of regulating and promoting the tourism industry, with much of its budget funding the latter aim.

Bartolo observes that other tourist destinations have shown that it was possible to act decisively against overtourism: some may even have gone too far in their opinion. But in Malta, the authorities continued ignoring the issue at their peril.

“If I were them, I would worry about allowing an irresponsible sector to harm the reputation of tourism,” he insisted. “Because hostility to tourism will only increase.”

Suffering in Silence

A common thread emerges in my interviews with three of Swieqi’s most prominent political figures: a reluctance by many residents to go public with their concerns. Even August’s protest attracted a modest crowd of around 80 people, though that may in part reflect political bickering which ultimately saw the local council sit it out. Cassola hailed these numbers as a “very good result” nevertheless, noting that Swieqi was still unaccustomed to community activism.

Muscat, on his part, had highlighted that many residents were “suffering in silence,” and in September, the local council provided the community with another opportunity to speak up through a meeting with the community policing team responsible for the area. 

With dozens of people turning up, turnout was good as far as Maltese community meetings go, and the crowd had a lot to say. But it emerged that just eight police reports had been filed for tourism-related disturbances during the year.

“We know how serious the situation is,” Inspector Gabby Gatt, who manages the community police teams in Swieqi and a number of other localities, assured the residents present. “But we do not receive enough reports to substantiate it.”

As the meeting progressed, however, and as one resident after another spoke up, a clear pattern emerged: the resources the police could or wanted to allocate were nowhere near what residents were hoping for.

And an incident shared by Gatt highlighted that landlords have little incentive to ensure their guests are good neighbours: one informed about his rowdy guests celebrated that he could now claim their deposit.

Enter the Pressure Group

The community police were not alone in encouraging residents to file reports: the same message is emphasised in “Swieqi Pressure Group.” Though just a group chat on WhatsApp, as its moderators make clear, in a locality that lacks a residents’ association of its own it may come closest to filling that gap for now.

It was established only last May: Cassola had observed that this took place amid rising tempers.

Martin and Steve (not their real names) confirm as much when we meet, but Martin recounts that the direct trigger was an incident which occurred near his home: a male tourist who took a naked morning stroll, aggressively confronting a number of residents along the way. A photo of this incident made the rounds on social media and was even featured in local press: Martin witnessed it in person.

“Things were already bothering me, then there was this case… the very next day it was done,” he said.

The authorities did respond once the incident went viral, even if Martin was less than encourage by the outcome: a suspended sentence after the tourist admitted to charges including harassment and public indecency. This, he stressed, would have no bearing on someone who does not actually live in the country.

The two men firmly rejected the suggestion that the community’s issues centred around numerous low-level offences which could not be considered a police priority, despite the inconvenience they may cause.

“There is a perceived sense of threat within the community, especially among the elderly and the young,” Steve observes. “I won’t say that people are afraid to leave their homes all the time, but the fear is there.” 

Martin readily concurs, emphasising his fears about the safety of his two daughters, both in their twenties.

An Inadequate Response, By Design

The interview with ethe two men took place the day after the community police meeting, and confirmed that their suggested remedy had its limitations, as Steve found out when he reported a loud flat party keeping his family awake the night before his son took an exam.

“I go out, literally screaming, file a report, but they keep going,” he notes. “By the time the police arrive an hour later, they are knocked out, and there’s nothing to report.”

The meeting saw Cassola repeatedly challenge the police’s insistence on reports: they could and did act on their own initiative when they saw fit. He recalled another incident involving a naked tourist, one filmed riding a motorcycle through Malta’s streets and was later identified, prosecuted, and fined after the footage went viral.

Various residents made clear their reluctance to follow through with a report publicly, including by testifying in court: not least since it would mean facing off against the business interests behind the holiday rentals. Neither they nor Cassola swayed police from insisting on the necessity of doing so, however.

Bartolo viewed this insistence cynically, deeming it a deliberate tactic.

“They insist you must show up and testify deliberately, to make you give up,” he observes. “Why are we expecting ordinary individuals to step up? Why don’t the authorities do anything to strike a balance and protect the public?”

‘Collateral Damage’

In this context, the residents’ dealings – or lack thereof – with police and other authorities highlight that Swieqi’s struggles were not an issue of residents versus tourists, but of a community burdened by a business that often profited at their expense. The link between short-term rentals and Malta’s politically-influential construction industry is not missed by anyone I spoke to.

“The government is closing an eye… to let people turn a profit,” Martin muses. “And we are just collateral damage.”

He suggests a simple remedy – “if you’re not capable of handling your clients, close it down” – but it is not an approach the authorities are exactly known for where business interests are involved.

Muscat’s own assessment is that the state’s failings were not a matter of incompetence, but betrayed an unwillingness to act.

“You’re under pressure… and you have to stand up to it,” he notes. “But they give in.”

And as our interview draws to a close, he warns things can get much worse.

Profiteering Over Everything

“Developers have become dangerously strong, you have no idea,” he maintains. “They view us as mere ants, and they don’t know how to invest in anything else.” 

The present short-let craze was a natural consequence of this, the mayor maintains: they became the most profitable use of an apartment. Consequently, in a country where apartments are often sold before a permit is even issued, there are now projects that are not being advertised for sale at all, including a large apartment block being built a short distance away from the local council offices that could by itself increase Swieqi’s stock of licensed holiday rentals by nearly a third.

“Spain was exactly in the same situation Malta is in now before the 2008 crisis,” he observes. “The economy was thriving, but it was all built on property. And what do we invest in? Property, property, property, property…”

Bartolo expresses similar sentiments as he rails against an attitude that prioritises profiteering over all else, and warns that change is unlikely when Malta’s main political parties are financially dependent on businesses.

“The scales will always be tipped in favour of the donors,” he muses. And as Muscat had done, Bartolo warns this may have dire consequences down the line.

“I worry that we’re being very short-sighted, because we’ve always scraped through,” he observes. “So we remain on the brink.”

The Government Responds

With the interviews taking place as summer was drawing to a close, it was perhaps inevitable that they betrayed a general sense of pessimism about the future of the community.

“If the authorities fail to take proper steps, it will be more of the same,” Bartolo maintained. “And so far I’m not seeing any political will.”

The others shared similar sentiments amid expectations that the growth holiday rentals would remain unchecked, though Cassola did temper this pessimism as he hailed the fact that Swieqi residents were finally finding their voice.

And by the end of summer, their voice had reached its intended audience.

In September, the government picked Swieqi and Valletta for a pilot project which aimed to develop community solutions to the problems caused by overtourism. And in November, this was followed up by proposed regulations which would make it possible to restrict short-lets to designated areas and require tourist rentals to display a 24-hour contact number which aggrieved residents could complain to. 

A month-long public consultation finished in December, though the regulations are yet to become law, and the number of holiday rentals in Swieqi and in Malta has only grown since then.

A Hopeful Future?

The proposed regulations still fall considerably short of the local council’s demand, with no caps on numbers, no indication that existing rentals would be affected and no commitment that any designated zones would be drawn up. And in a country that has long struggled with enforcing regulations, their implementation still relies on the political will Bartolo failed to see among his former cabinet colleagues.

Bartolo’s response as I sought to find out whether the government’s gestures had given my interviewees new hopes was succinct: “The proof of the pudding is in the eating,”

Muscat was hopeful: “there is no reason why (the situation) should not improve… God forbid that it does not improve drastically.” But the mayor emphasises the need to do more, not least closing the planning loophole that enabled Swieqi’s transformation into Paceville’s dormitory and a capacity study, whilst warning that the challenge will be even greater this year.

The others do not share his optimism, with Cassola viewing the proposals cynically as “lip service to gain votes, since elections are approaching.” Any sign of progress, he maintains, could only be determined after the next election – which must take place by 2027 – takes place.

Steve and Martin, meanwhile, see little cause for celebration since even winter has not brought them peace: it’s still bad now, only better than summer.

Noise, disturbances, garbage accumulation and drug use continue unabated.

Neither are yet to see any political will to change things: “if there was, things would have moved in the right direction,” Steve muses, while Martin reiterates that the interest of those profiting at the community’s expense were still being put first.

This scepticism does not appear unwarranted, given that a previous proposal to require apartment owners to obtain approval from their condominium neighbours before licensing it as a holiday rentals was ditched early last year: tourism minister Ian Borg deemed it unfair on those who invested in short-lets. Instead, Borg pledged to enforce the rules to ensure neighbourly respect.

As Swieqi can attest, that proved to be a broken promise, one that casts a shadow on the latest pledges. But it also led to a community still struggling to define its identity to find its voice and be heard, across the political spectrum: the next step, perhaps, will be to ensure it is actually listened to.

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.

A recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union strengthened players’ ability to recover online gambling losses across borders under their home laws, but stopped short of directly challenging Malta’s controversial legal protections for the iGaming industry under a legal amendment known as Bill 55.

“Online games of chance: a player may, as a general rule, rely on the law of his or her country of residence when bringing an action to establish liability in tort or delict on the part of the directors of a foreign provider that does not hold the required licence,” the court’s statement reads.

The judgment confirms that, as a general rule, players may rely on the law of their country of residence when bringing non-contractual claims linked to online gambling, even where the operator is established and licensed in another EU member state, such as Malta. 

But, more crucially, it does not touch Malta’s legal framework, notably Bill 55, which can shield gambling companies from enforcing foreign courts’ judgements. 

“The Court did not examine, question, or assess the validity of Malta’s regulatory framework,” Malta Gaming Authority’s spokesperson told Amphora Media.

Commenting on Amphora’s earlier findings about the way Malta’s laws protect gambling operators, lawyer Benedikt Quarch, who has represented numerous German and Austrian gamblers, has earlier explained to Amphora Media that his firm would bring “thousands of cases to Malta” once the EU courts declared the bill void.

What the Court decided: The case involving an operator in Malta

The EU court case began with an Austrian client who used a Maltese operator, Titanium Brace Marketing, which did not hold the licence required under Austrian law. 

According to the judgement, the Austrian player accumulated losses between November 2019 and April 2020.

The player decided to bring a case against the operator’s two directors before the Austrian courts, arguing that they are “jointly and severally liable for the fact that Titanium offered illegal games of chance in Austria”. The directors argued that not Austrian but Maltese law should apply.

The directors also argued that they should not be liable for the company’s offer of gambling services without a national licence. 

Filings at Malta Business Registry show that a Cypriot national and a Maltese national were appointed directors of the company in September 2019. In 2021, the Maltese director resigned and the Cypriot signed a document initiating the dissolution of the company, which is ongoing.

In 2024, the Austrian Supreme Court put questions to the EU Court of Justice to clarify whether the directors are liable and which law should apply.

According to the government of Austria, “cross-border supply of gambling activities is not allowed”. But Malta-based firms operate websites without licenses in some countries they target.

Gambling laws are not harmonised in the EU, and there is no obligation for authorities to recognise gambling licences from another EU country.

There is case law that repeatedly recognises the rights of EU countries to restrict the cross-border market of gaming services, but restrictions (such as more stringent criteria for a national licence) must be proven to be proportionate.

The top EU court ruled that “the damage sustained by the player is deemed to have occurred in the country in which that player resides”. In this case it’s Austria, so Austrian law should apply.

Moreover, failing to obtain a gambling license is a breach of a general law protecting the public, not an internal company management issue. 

This means it does not fall under the company law exception, which would be protecting the directors from liability. It remains for the Austrian courts to rule whether the directors are guilty, but this should be done under the law governing non-contractual obligations and not company law.

Bill 55’s fate is yet undecided

Although not directly addressed by the recent ruling, Bill 55 is also under EU scrutiny.

Under Bill 55, Maltese courts can “refuse recognition and, or enforcement” of any foreign judgment involving companies registered on the island, namely the gambling industry.

In an interview with iGaming Capital, lawyer Terrence Cassar explained that the relevant article introduced by Bill 55 “would only ever come into play at the point where a foreign judgment is presented for recognition and enforcement in Malta.” 

“At that stage, the Maltese legal position is that such a judgment would simply not be recognised,” he said.

MGA’s spokesperson also underscores the limited scope of the ruling:

“It is also important to emphasise that this judgment was strictly limited to the interpretation of the Rome II Regulation (Regulation 864/2007), which determines which country’s law applies in civil and commercial matters involving non-contractual claims.”

“The Court did not pronounce itself on the substance of the underlying player claim. It does not relate to Article 56A (formerly Bill 55), which addresses a different legal context and reflects Malta’s established public policy on gaming matters,” the spokesperson added.

Amphora Media analysed Maltese court cases since the adoption of Bill 55. We found 81 first-instance judgements involving gambling companies and 32 appeals that cited the relevant legislation.

Not all of these were court judgements about refunding gambling losses. The court issued interim judgements on many procedural requests, responding to challenges brought by either side – the gambler or the company – including garnishee orders and requests for recusal.

“In light of the narrow and technical nature of this judgment, Malta’s position vis-à-vis the player claims remains that operators licensed in Malta may continue to operate cross border where they have a justifiable legal reason to do so,” MGA’s spokesperson said. 

However, more rulings may be in the pipeline. 

In June last year, the European Commission also opened infringement proceedings against Malta “for failing to comply with its obligations under the Regulation on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements (Regulation (EU) 1215/2012) in the area of gambling”.

Read more:

• EU institutions agree on a list of safe countries to which asylum seekers can be sent, either because they come from these countries, have transited through them, or because their governments agree to process asylum claims there.
• Five EU safe countries still have the death penalty.
• Malta is already deporting people to these countries in large numbers, but most deportees do not appear to have arrived irregularly.
• The government praises a high deportation-to-irregular-arrival ratio, but the nationalities of deportees do not fully reflect arrivals by sea.

Malta is already deporting large numbers of people to countries the EU now plans to designate as “safe”.

Recently, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri praised a swift operation where migrants rescued at sea in December were deported in a matter of weeks. But most of those deported over time were not asylum seekers, raising questions about what the bloc’s new safe countries list will actually change on the ground.

On 18th December, the European Parliament and Council (the latter represents governments) agreed on the first-ever EU-wide list of safe countries of origin, allowing member states to fast-track or reject asylum applications from nationals of those countries.

While the move is intended to expedite asylum decisions and increase returns, Malta’s data suggest that deportation figures, often cited by the government as evidence of effective migration control, are driven more by the return of migrant workers and visa overstayers than by asylum policy.

What has the EU proposed?

At the EU level, the following countries will be designated as safe countries of origin, with limited exceptions: all EU candidate countries, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Five of these countries – Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Morocco and Tunisia – retain the death penalty in their laws.

“Where we can go faster, we should go faster,” EU migration commissioner Magnus Brunner said, arguing that faster procedures are needed to address asylum backlogs across the bloc.

While the list is new at the EU level, the idea is not. Currently, EU member states maintain their own lists of safe countries and regularly update them. Malta’s list does not include Colombia or Kosovo and does not automatically extend to EU candidate countries.

“When you have a high influx of refugees coming from a certain country, this country is often inserted into the [national] list,” said Gaia Romeo from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, who focuses on the implementation of EU safe country policies in her PhD.

“The EU has been trying to have a common list of safe countries of origin since 2004,” she explained.

What about vulnerable groups?

The new EU rules can make it easier to reject asylum applications under examination and expedite the processing of pending claims. The new rules would not affect Ukrainian applications due to the ongoing conflict there.

The final text stresses that individual assessments will still be required but that the onus will now be on the applicant to justify “why the concept safe country of origin is not applicable to him or her”.

It says that “special attention” should be paid to applicants in vulnerable situations, including LGBTIQ persons, victims of gender-based violence, human rights defenders, religious minorities and journalists.

But experts warn that these safeguards risk remaining largely theoretical in accelerated procedures.

“It really depends on how it is implemented,” Frowin Rausis, who researches asylum policy at the University of Geneva with an EU-funded project called “Finding Agreement in Return”, told Amphora Media.

“Cases that concern gender based violence and LGBTQI (…) need a lot of trust, time, and resources that might be absent in an accelerated procedure. If you can’t identify them, you’‘ll also not be able to protect them,” he said.

Romeo points to similar concerns in Italy.

“I’ve been told of many cases of people who had a very evident vulnerability or were in the need of protection, but the process was too fast, because they could not understand the procedure, couldn’t access a lawyer, or they didn’t trust the system,” she said.

“Someone coming from a very repressive system needs some time to understand whom they can trust.”

Malta: Asylum in numbers

Malta will be entering the new EU framework with asylum applications at their lowest level since 2010.

In 2024, the largest number of asylum seekers came from Syria (which accounts for nearly half of all applicants), Colombia and Bangladesh. Over 500 applications were left pending. These applicants were predominantly from Syria, Ukraine and Sudan. 

According to 2024 data compiled by aditus foundation, Malta considered 88 applications inadmissible.

Malta has been found in violation of asylum seekers’ rights on multiple occasions. Since 2004, it has lost five cases at the European Court of Human Rights, including rulings concerning the detention of Bangladeshi asylum seekers and the failure to properly assess the case of a Bangladeshi journalist.

This is how asylum seekers from the countries on EU’s safe list fared in Malta

Deportations: Are rejected asylum seekers leaving Malta?

The government said the number of migrants returned is around 81% of irregular arrivals, and that arrivals themselves have fallen by 93% over the last five years, thanks to effective return policies for those not qualifying for protection. Statistics on sea arrivals and deportations in 2025, as referenced by Minister Camilleri, have not yet been published.

Between 2020 and 2024, Malta deported 1,840 individuals. Nationals of countries now designated as safe at the EU level feature prominently among those returns, according to Eurostat data.

The data does not distinguish between forced returns of asylum seekers and other migrants. Five of the ten countries on this list grant EU citizens visa-free short-stay travel.

This suggests that about one-fifth of all deportations over the five years involved citizens who arrived in Malta visa-free and likely overstayed their visas. According to Jobsplus, as of December 2024, India, Nepal, Colombia, Serbia, Albania, Pakistan and Bangladesh featured among the top nationalities of employees in Malta.

Most deported nationalities in Malta in 2024 (highlight: visa-free travel)

The ranking of the most deported nationalities has remained stable over time. For each nationality, the number of migrants holding work permits far exceeds the number of deportations, showing that most deportations concern migrants other than rejected asylum seekers.

Most deported nationalities in Malta 2020-2024 (highlight: visa-free travel)

Note: no overstay data from 2020 was published. NSO publishes nationality data on boat arrivals only when that nationality is included among the most common nationalities, so the numbers are expected to be higher

When deportation figures are compared with boat arrivals, the discrepancy becomes clearer.

Some Bangladeshis and Egyptians used the sea route, but most of the other sea arrivals in 2024 were from Syria (46 people), Pakistan (31), Eritrea (9), Ethiopia, Ghana, Sudan (3 each), and Palestine (2).

During 2020-2024, Bangladeshis constituted the largest number of sea arrivals (21%), followed by Sudanese (18%), Eritrean (12%), Syrian (9%) and Somali people (210).

The data suggest that most deportations do not concern rejected asylum seekers, but migrants who entered Malta through other channels, including labour migration and visa-free travel.

Malta has deported one Syrian since 2020, alongside 33 Pakistanis, 40 Ghanaians, no Eritreans, Sudanese, Palestinians and Ethiopians.

Malta is already deporting people to Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Colombia, Morocco and several EU candidate countries, all of which feature on the EU’s new safe countries list. Nepal is the only country among Malta’s most frequently deported nationalities that does not.

Taken together, the figures indicate that Malta’s high deportation-to-arrival ratio is driven by two factors: a sharp decline in sea arrivals, and a large number of returns involving non-asylum migrants.

As a result, deportation figures are more accurately understood in relation to overall migration flows, rather than arrivals by sea alone.

EU proposal has limited impact and familiar problems

EU data shows that member states already maintain and revise their own lists of safe countries, which are frequently challenged in court.

In recent years, Greek courts rejected Türkiye as a safe third country, Italian tribunals ruled that Tunisia could not be considered safe, and Dutch authorities concluded that Colombia, now on the EU-wide list, does not offer sufficient protection for asylum seekers.

Rausis doubts the new framework will significantly increase returns or harmonise asylum policy.

“The harmonisation effect is limited, but more importantly, the question of return is critical for many countries.  This will make it more effective in the best case to get a return decision.”

“But the actual question of whether people are returned is not based on this kind of unilateral declaration. It’s really about the extent to which the cooperation with third countries is working.”

Romeo agrees. “Candidate countries tend to cooperate on returns, but then it’s very easy for [their citizens] to return to the EU.”

For Malta, the EU’s safe countries list may streamline procedures at the margins. But it does not explain, or justify, a deportation narrative that is driven largely by migrants who never entered the asylum system in the first place.

Further reading:

The purchases were made while Galdes held senior responsibility for the housing sector, first as Parliamentary Secretary for Social Housing, a role he assumed in 2017, and later as Minister responsible for the sector from 2020 onwards.

The first trace of Roderick Galdes’ property activity in Italy appears in Catania. On 6 December 2019, Galdes and his wife, Joanne Galdes, jointly purchased a 20-square-metre ground-floor unit at Cortile Litrico. 

Joanne Galdes is a director at Wasteserv and has held roles at the Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations.

Galdes’ next documented property appears in Rosolini, in the province of Siracusa. According to the local land registry, Galdes and his wife jointly own a villa in Contrada Cavetta Amenta, measuring approximately 177 square metres. 

The building was originally registered as a collabente, an uninhabitable or derelict structure, and was formally converted into a residential property in June 2022. 

A year later, Galdes made another move in Ragusa. Land registry records show that on 15th June 2023, he purchased a large villa complex on Modica–Giarratana, comprising a main residence and a smaller unit.

Unlike his earlier properties, this acquisition is registered entirely in Galdes’ name. A formal renovation was recorded shortly after the transaction, confirming the site’s redevelopment.

The Ragusa records also show that Galdes holds agricultural land in the same area, acquired through a series of purchase deeds in June 2022 and July 2023. 

These holdings include two agricultural parcels owned jointly on a 50% basis with Norbert Bellia, a Malta-born co-owner, as well as a smaller parcel in which Galdes holds a 1/8th share, alongside Bellia and two local Italian owners, Paola and Maria Occhipinti. 

In 2024, an application by Galdes and Bellia to develop agricultural land in Ragusa was rejected.

Bellia appears to be a car dealer. In Malta, this name appears on numerous applications to develop sites into apartments and car showrooms.

A piece of agricultural land with a building in Sicily is listed within Galdes’ 2021 asset declaration.

Galdes’ most recent documented property activity appears far from Sicily. 

According to the Udine land registry, Galdes and his wife jointly own three residential units in Forni di Sopra, a mountain village in the Dolomites.

The apartments were derived from a formal administrative division registered on 10th October 2025, rather than through individual purchases. The three units together total 10.5 rooms and remain jointly owned by the couple.

According to Google Maps, it appears that it comprises an entire residential block.

Galdes and his property deals have been under the microscope ever since Marlene Mizzi, the former chairperson of Malita Investments, accused him of interfering in the company’s operations and of “hobnobbing” with contractors that the company had engaged.

The Times of Malta have since revealed two property deals between Galdes and Excel Investments, a property development company owned by Joseph Portelli, Mark Agius, and Daniel Refalo.

According to his 2021 asset declaration, the most recent available, Galdes also owns properties in Luqa, Xagħra, Qormi, Siġġiewi, Middlesex, and Sicily.

Galdes, for his part, has described the criticism as an “attack on him and his family” and has denied all allegations.

When asked by reporters about Galdes’s property portfolio, Prime Minister Robert Abela stated that he was satisfied with the explanations provided, which claimed that the majority of properties were purchased before Galdes became minister.

Galdes did not respond to a request for comment from Amphora Media.

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.

It’s a message we’ve heard before. A focus on mental health and the introduction of a new hospital were offered in both the 2017 and 2022 ruling Labour Party’s electoral manifestos. Malta has had a mental health strategy in place since 2020.

The government promises ‘transformation’, but is it delivering on key mental health needs?

“None of us can feel secure unless we know that mental health is taken as seriously as physical health by our healthcare systems,” the Prime Minister said in his 2023 speech at the UN.

“To help provide [the needed] reassurance, in Malta we have implemented a comprehensive mental health strategy to build capacity, address causes, and offer continuing support to individuals with mental health needs, and their families,” he added.

His wife, Lydia Abela, also proclaimed, “Going for a mental health check-up should be as normal as going to see your doctor.”

For Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela, the Government’s strategy is based on the protection of mental health in every aspect of society: “Mental health care is a national priority. We believe in one healthcare system, and the first step to breaking the stigma is to combine healthcare that includes mental health as well as physical health.”

However,  when conditions in Mount Carmel hospital, the facility that currently provides inpatient treatment for acute cases (among other services), were criticised, Minister Abela told journalists that “we’re talking about a ward that is giving refuge to people who would otherwise have problems on the streets”, adding that “these are not patients, these are not persons who have been committed to a mental institution”, and are free to leave.

“Many of these people will be suffering from what is known as a dual diagnosis [substance use disorder (addiction) combined with a psychiatric disorder], but their acute phase of the psychiatric disorder is over.”

What is Malta’s state of mental health?

The share of Maltese who reported emotional or psychosocial problems over the past year is 67% – far higher than the EU’s average of 46%. Of those who did, Malta reported a larger share of those who did not seek or find help.

According to Eurobarometer 530, roughly one in eight Maltese respondents saw a psychiatrist for their mental health problems over the past year, and 7% saw a psychotherapist.

A third of Maltese respondents reported they or their family had experienced difficulties accessing mental healthcare – a higher proportion than across the EU. Over half of them complained of long waiting lists and high costs, and a third tried to wait out the problem.

According to the government’s consultation paper, over 15% of adults live with a diagnosed mental disorder – anxiety is the most common among them.

Between 2010 and 2024, Malta recorded 437 suicides (365 male, 72 female). This peaked at 35 in 2021. Comparatively, Malta’s suicide rate is low.

In 2024, there were 26 suicides among residents (22 male, 4 female) and 6 among non-residents (5 male, 1 female), the highest non-resident count on record.

The number of people using services at Mount Carmel has steadily increased over the years, almost doubling from 1,129 in 2010 to 2,171 in 2024.

Meanwhile, the number of persons using Mount Carmel’s inpatient services (both men and women) has increased and exceeded pre-pandemic levels, suggesting continued reliance on hospitalisation.

The number of helpline users, and the number of persons making use of community mental health clinics grew as well.

According to the National Youth Council’s 2018-19 survey, many young people in Malta believed there were insufficient mental-health services, and fewer sought help than the number of those who needed it. Subsequent awareness campaigns have been implemented to increase help-seeking, though publicly reported data confirming an increase in service uptake remain limited.

Key mental health services are provided in the following facilities:

• During the first year of its operation, the Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Team, which can address acute mental health crises without hospitalisation, received 276 cases, and 17 of them had to be hospitalised;
• The Crisis Resolution Home Treatment (CRHT) served 409 patients in its inpatient service in 2024 – the number has been increasing since 2022;
• The number of children aged 10-17 using inpatient services jumped between 2015 and 2016, initially peaked in 2017 before starting to decline before and during the pandemic, and grew again to 120 in 2024;
• Usage of inpatient psychogeriatric services leaped from 42 in 2023 to 169 in 2024;
• As of 2021, there were eight hostels housing 35 mental health patients; data from 2025 shows that 152 people live in mental-health-supported accommodation in Malta, showing NGOs carry a major share of long-term psychiatric housing;
• The use of outpatient services at various clinics soared five times between 2021 and 2022 and grew to 23,429 users in 2024;
• Helpline usage jumped by 29% between 2023 and 2024;
• Patients needing help with eating disorders were predominantly female throughout the years. The number of patients using residential services has been declining, but the use of outpatient services has bounced back post-pandemic, reaching 262 in 2024, the largest number since 2014. A small number of patients used day services. 

Noticeably, men make up roughly 83.5% of suicides in the data. This reflects the overrepresentation of men in other areas.

Between 2010 and 2024, 17,358 men utilised services at Mount Carmel Hospital, compared to 7,593 women.

On the other hand, according to an OECD report, depression is more commonly reported to affect women and people on low incomes.

Addictions & Dual Diagnosis:

As noted in the mental health strategy and reiterated by Minister Abela, “Mount Carmel Hospital is partially serving as a place of last resort and final safety net for a significant number of individuals who… do not require hospitalisation in a mental health institution”.

“This situation places further strain on the already stretched resources and can detract attention from seriously ill mental health patients who require hospitalisation.”

Some estimates suggest that dual diagnosis patients (addicts) may constitute between a third and a half of Mount Carmel Hospital’s patients.

For example, the 2023 annual report from the Commissioner for Mental Health found that around 37 patients subject to involuntary admission were found to be homeless.

A study published by the Ministry for Social Policy and Children’s Rights stated that 1,927 individuals were treated for ‘problem drug use’, with the primary drug predominantly being heroin. In 2022, Malta registered four overdose deaths.

Department of Health’s data shows that as of 27 October 2025, 240 patients (176 male, 64 female) were admitted for addiction treatment. Men made up about 73% of all inpatient admissions for addiction treatment.

Community mental health clinics (Paola, Qormi, Floriana, Mtarfa, Mosta, Qawra) handled cases of drug addiction, alcohol addiction, gambling disorder, and dual diagnosis. The Bormla Community Mental Health Clinic separately reported dual diagnoses cases: it handled 45 males and 34 females this year.

Alcohol addiction cases are concentrated among older men (50+), particularly in Qormi and Mtarfa. Drug addiction cases span up to age 77, indicating ongoing treatment needs in older adults.

Figures from Sedqa, Malta’s national agency for substance misuse, show the number of cases worked with, including both inpatient and outpatient interventions, has fluctuated over the past decade, with inpatient cases falling sharply from 287 in 2011 to 119 in 2020, before rising again to 313 in 2024.

Meanwhile, outpatient cases have steadily increased, reaching 1,737 in 2023, and more people started using Richmond Foundation’s neuropsychiatry services.

Crisis Resolution Home Treatment (CRHT) handled nine primary addiction crises in 2025: alcohol (3), cannabis (3), cocaine (2), and polysubstance abuse (1). It also handled 15 secondary addiction-related cases (mainly alcohol and cannabis). Overall, at least 24 CRHT contacts involved addiction. Cases span from 20-year-olds to men in their 70s.

Children & youth:

Malta has among the loneliest teenagers in the EU, according to the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (2022).

Among 11-year-olds, 11% of boys and 16% of girls in Malta reported feeling lonely most of the time or always, placing them among the higher-ranking EU countries for loneliness in this age group. For 13-year-olds, 13% of boys and 27% of girls reported frequent feelings of loneliness, again ranking Malta above the EU average. Among 15-year-olds, 19% of boys and 30% of girls reported feeling lonely, higher than in other small countries such as Cyprus and Slovenia.

Although the situation for 15-year-olds is somewhat less severe compared with some other EU countries, the proportion of adolescents reporting loneliness remains concerning. Data on 15-year-olds’ mental health well-being indicate that Malta also ranks relatively low within the EU.

UNICEF data based on estimates from the IHME, Global Burden of Disease Study, 2019 shows that more than one in six of Malta’s adolescents (aged 10-19) had a mental disorder and that over 7,000 children and teenagers were in need of care. 

In response, specific services target young people:

• The Child and Young People’s Services  at St. Luke’s Hospital offers multidisciplinary services available by referral from a general practitioner;
• The Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Emergency Services offers emergency services for young people aged 3 to 18 years;
• The Crisis Intervention and Home Treatment team offers an intensive intervention to young people recently discharged or require extra support;
• The Generic child and adolescent mental health clinics offer an assessment and intervention to all young people aged 3-18 years;
• Family Focused Clinic provides a service to children and young people whose mental health is being negatively impacted by family dynamics;
• The Anger Management Group Therapy trains young people to control their anger outbursts better;
• The Young People’s Unit at Mount Carmel Hospital separates young patients between the ages of 12 and 18.

Malta’s two public education institutions, the University of Malta and MCAST, run their own mental health services. According to official data, 33 MCAST students are currently in active follow-up with the Paola mental health clinic (19 males, 14 females). The University of Malta’s Health and Wellness Centre recorded 4,165 student consultations since 2020, with 44 students seen in 2024.

Non-Maltese residents:

A Mental Health Strategy for Malta 2020-2030 acknowledged that “The risk of admission to the psychiatric in-patient facility, Mount Carmel Hospital, for non-Maltese persons is 2.2 times that of the general population, whilst for persons from low and middle-income countries residing in Malta, the admission rate is 5-fold that of the general population”.

The Commissioner for Mental Health’s 2023 report states that among patients subject to involuntary admission, almost 30% were non-Maltese (188 patients), and over half of them came from non-European countries.

How does Malta invest in mental health?

In the mental health strategy, the government acknowledged that “the focus of the mental health sector regretfully remains somewhat hospital-centric” while community care services were “generally understaffed”.

A 2022 study stated that substantial reform in mental health services only started during the pandemic, despite attempts starting in the early 1990s. “Past attempts at reforming this sector were stifled due to insufficient and unsustained political commitment, leaving it direly under-resourced,” the authors wrote.

The budget for mental health services has been gradually growing: from more than €42 million in 2019 to €71 million in 2025. However, the demand for outpatient services skyrocketed between 2021 and 2022, with an increasing overall trend.

Mount Carmel Hospital is the institution that provides inpatient mental health services, residential treatment centres, community mental health centres, and outpatient clinics.

Budget documents over the years show that investment in the Mount Carmel hospital skyrocketed in 2020, then declined, and picked up again in 2023, when “acute psychiatric hospital” became a separate expense category. Crisis intervention’s budget has been stable since 2019, except for a temporary dip in 2022.

The Commissioner for Mental Health noted that, as of 2023, the lowest-quality treatment wards suffered from “poor facility upkeep, poor ventilation, lack of designated smoking areas, lack of activities and privacy in the bathroom and toilet areas, as well as in the sleeping areas.”

The Commissioner went on to call for “increased allocation of funds in the next national budget to better assist patients with a dual psychiatric disorder and substance misuse.” 

However, the only time substance abuse/ misuse is mentioned in the budget 2026 document is the allocation of funds for the Advisory Group/Committee on Substance Abuse. It will receive less money than in 2025.

The 2022 study showed that the sector suffers from a shortage of nurses and social workers – key staff essential for the desired transformation.

The study’s authors noted that the government was not leading the way in the reform – it reacted to pressure from the mental health commissioner, the National Audit Office, local media, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and professionals.

Politicians’ recent claims on mental health policy concerned promises of a ‘transformation’ in service provision with an inclusive, patient-centred approach. Robert Abela spoke of a mental health strategy that has already been implemented.

According to researchers, “The lack of sustained political commitment and investment greatly undermined mental health reform in the past, while strong advocacy from stakeholders was key to bring mental health back on the political agenda”. 

Since then, the government has promised to integrate physical and mental health, build capacity, and make the system more accessible. A range of services for children and young people is available to address the pressing needs of this population.

Meanwhile, data shows that Malta’s state of mental health is rather alarming: a significant share of individuals experiencing problems do not seek or find help, and available resources are not addressing key gaps: social isolation among adolescents, exclusion of migrants, and complex needs of substance addicts.

Allocations for mental health services have been increasing over the years, and funding for Mount Carmel Hospital recovered in 2024 after a decrease. However, crisis intervention, which experiences a high demand, has not seen an increase in its budget. 

Despite financial improvements, there is no evidence of earmarked budgets to address the most pressing needs, namely, training and recruiting more nurses and social workers to address the shortages of this essential personnel. Some efforts to recruit cultural mediators are included in the integration strategy.

Thus, although a reform has been taking place and resources have increased, the impacts fall short of a fully fledged transformation. The claim is only somewhat true.

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.

From hunting and fireworks to village feasts, many Maltese pastimes depend on open spaces. In the wake of the opposition Nationalist Party’s (PN) voted-down attempt to enshrine the right to live in a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, Prime Minister Robert Abela pledged constitutional safeguards for traditional hobbies, portraying his party as their only “guarantee.”

The debate has pitted environmental protection against the preservation of tradition. But is that really the case? And has “constitutional protection” become a buzzword that means little in practice?

On 12th October, Prime Minister Robert Abela promised constitutional protections for traditional hobbies and said that the Labour Party is the only guarantee for amateurs and hobbyists. 

He did so in reaction to the opposition’s motion to enshrine a right to a clean and sustainable environment as a constitutional right.

Abela told the Times of Malta that this proposal was “contrary to what others tried to do, who attempted to take away that protection and deprive [hobbyists] of their pastime.”

Abela also said that he would offer constitutional safeguards to ‘all traditions’, including hunting and trapping during a limited season.

“We know the challenges hunting and trapping face locally and in Europe. But traditions like fireworks, feasts, and sports, sometimes taken for granted,” are now at risk, Labour Party MEP Alex Agius Saliba said.

“Will this give me, as a citizen, the right to play hopscotch out in the streets, as we used to in the past?” Birdlife Malta’s Darryl Grima told the Malta Independent.

A green paper published by the government after the PN’s the proposal claimed “Safeguarding the environment is a national priority” and that “the country’s commitment to environmental protection is demonstrated through a robust framework of constitutional provisions and international legal agreements.”

According to reports, Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms Rebecca Buttigieg claimed on national TV that the environment as a human right was already in the constitution, which is not the case.

The government’s proposal and protection of tradition:

Malta’s government is yet to present a bill regarding the constitutional protection of hobbies.

In its 2022 electoral manifesto, the PL had a section on recreation and hobbies. It made promises for caravan, camping and picnic enthusiasts, and promised green networks for ramblers, hikers and all those who visit the Maltese countryside.” It also mentioned amateur fishing and promised safeguarding “equal and equitable” hunting and trapping in line with EU directives.

However, several safeguards are already available.

Malta has ratified UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. “Intangible cultural heritage” can refer to social practices, rituals and festive events, and the signatory countries are committed to “take the necessary measures to ensure the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage present in its territory”. 

Malta’s Cultural Heritage Act defines cultural heritage as including “intangible cultural assets comprising arts, traditions, customs and skills employed in the performing arts, in applied arts and in crafts and other intangible assets which have a historical, artistic or ethnographic value”.

According to this law, “every citizen of Malta as well as every person present in Malta shall have the duty of protecting the cultural heritage as well as the right to benefit from this cultural heritage through learning and enjoyment.”

The state, in turn, “shall have the duty of establishing and maintaining administrative and regulatory structures of superintendence so as to ensure that this heritage is protected and conserved”.

Malta’s inventory of intangible heritage includes the traditional village feast, falconry, sea salt harvesting and other practices, but not fireworks, hunting, trapping and shooting.

Malta had the option to sign the Council of Europe’s Faro Convention, which defines cultural heritage and demands that “exercise of the right to cultural heritage may be subject only to those restrictions which are necessary in a democratic society for the protection of the public interest and the rights and freedoms of others.” But it did not sign it.

It is unclear how the constitutional protection would address challenges of high population density and fragmented land.

Speaking at a Labour Party event, Lucas Micallef, president of the National Association of Hunters and Trappers (FKNK), said, “If we do not have a natural environment to go to, if we do not have rural spaces, we cannot practice what we love so much.”

What’s happened abroad?

Specifically on hunting, different legal traditions exist in Europe. Polish academics have noted that falconry, for example, is “is considered to be a form of intangible heritage manifested in knowledge and practices regarding nature and the universe”, but English fox hunting with dogs is not and has been banned. 

“The heritage cultivated by hunters should not be reduced to some open-air folk museum. It should be a living element valuable for the cultural cohesion of local communities, their connections and sensitivity to the natural environment,” the authors argued.

Canada, Australia and New Zealand legally recognise traditional native hunting and fishing, but their criminal systems impose “burden of proof of traditional practice as a defence”.

In 2013, Spain adopted a law to enshrine bullfighting as a heritage practice – the law is still in force despite a petition for the “No Es Mi Cultura” campaign to remove the protections gathering over 700,000 signatures, according to the campaign organisers.

The law establishes that the government must guarantee Spaniards the right to practise bullfighting freely, subject to applicable regulations. Bulls used for fighting, as well as hunting dogs, are excluded under the 2023 national animal welfare law.

PN’s proposal

PN’s bill, presented by Darren Carabott, was debated in two parliamentary sessions. It aimed to add the environment among rights to ‘enjoy’ alongside property and the protection of the law. 

“All persons in Malta shall have the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment,” the proposed article read.

It specified that “a person bringing such an action shall not be required to show any personal interest” when pursuing contravening actions.

The Opposition’s proposal had courted significant criticism from the government and lobbyists, some of which were tabled in parliament. These included The National Band Clubs Association, The Malta Maritime Forum, FKNK, The Malta Shooting Sport Federation, and the football association. 

Kaċċaturi San Ubertu, another hunters’ organisation, voiced its support for making the protection of the environment constitutionally enforceable, but added that “if environmental rights are to be recognised in the Constitution, then the same consideration should be given to the incorporation of the right to practice traditional and regulated hunting and trapping.”

The opposition’s proposal was shot down in Parliament with 32 votes in favour, and 40 against. PL MPs all voted against the proposal.

A right to clean, healthy and sustainable environment was promised in PN’s 2023 guidelines. The proposed bill defined environment as including “the social conditions, aesthetic coherence and cultural attributes”. 

On hobbies, the PN’s electoral manifesto singled out “festivals, celebrations, and other manifestations”, and promised to “take all the necessary decisions not only to prevent these habits from being lost but to strengthen them.” It did not mention hunting and trapping.

Legal protections of the environment

Currently, Malta’s constitution states that “the State shall protect and conserve the environment and its resources for the benefit of the present and future generations and shall take measures to address any form of environmental degradation in Malta” in Declaration of principles, which are not enforceable in court.

In comparison:

• The Spanish constitution contains the clause that “Everyone has the right to enjoy an environment suitable for personal development”;
• The Greek constitution enshrines a right to a natural environment;
• The Portuguese constitution protects the right to a “healthy and ecologically balanced human living environment”;
• The Slovak constitution establishes that “Everyone has the right to a favourable environment” and “No one may endanger, or damage the environment, natural resources, and the cultural heritage beyond the extent laid down by law”.

In a 2022 resolution, the UN’s General Assembly recognised “the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right”.

Malta has the Environment Protection Act. It stipulates that “It shall be the duty of every person and entity, whether public or private, to protect the environment” and “It shall be the duty of the Government to protect the environment for the benefit of the present and future generations”. Those provisions are not enforceable in court.

The Crimes against the Environment Act lists several offences that include radiation, pollution, and the destruction or trading in protected species.

If the crime does not harm humans, the punishment is set at “imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine (multa) not exceeding one thousand euro.”

The government’s green paper acknowledges that “evolving challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pressures on natural resources demand further strengthening of existing laws” and that “Responsible execution also entails collaboration with citizens, businesses, and eNGOs so that compliance becomes part of a shared culture of environmental responsibility.” It does not mention courts, police or environmental crime.

Is the constitution an effective safeguard?

When Malta joined the European Union, the European Union Act gave EU law supremacy over Maltese law. It specifies that any Maltese law conflicting with Malta’s EU obligations or with rights derived from EU law is “without effect and unenforceable.” 

EU Law vs Malta’s Constitution 

For Malta, bird trapping is a clear instance where traditional hobbies clash with EU law.

According to the jurisprudence of the Maltese Constitutional Court, a law that breaches EU law is contrary to the Constitution. Last year, the Court of Justice ruled that the bird trapping derogation is in breach of EU law.

If a right to traditional hobbies were added to the constitution, but the practice of those hobbies clashed with EU law, the constitutional ambiguity would have to be either anticipated and addressed in legislation or resolved in case law, potentially inundating the Constitutional Court.

Implementation

Meanwhile, there are regular concerns over the applicability of constitutional court decisions in Malta to actual legislation.

The constitution contains Chapter II, in which “The provisions […] shall not be enforceable in any court, but […] it shall be the aim of the State to apply these principles in making laws.”

In its latest rule of law report, the European Commission highlighted that it is “up to Parliament to repeal or amend laws found unconstitutional”.

This means that “unconstitutional laws remain valid until Parliament repeals them”.

If any national or EU law were to conflict with constitutional provisions, even a Constitutional Court ruling in one case would not mean that the uncertainty would be resolved for all similar cases, because “judgments of the Constitutional Court lack universal applicability.”

As is the case in human rights cases, or even old rent laws, constitutional redress is not an effective remedy in Malta, and judgments of the Constitutional Court lack universal applicability.
Carabott’s bill addresses these limitations by prescribing direct court intervention.

Malta’s constitutional and legislative framework means that rulings by the Constitutional Court lack universal applicability. This weakens constitutional protection, whether for hobbies, traditional practices, or the environment.

For example, although the Constitution already contains environmental provisions, key laws remain weak and often preclude effective litigation.

Alarmist claims that stronger environmental protections in the Constitution would spell the end of traditional hobbies are difficult to justify, as are the claims that hobbies can only be protected by the Constitution.

Malta has failed to use existing tools to protect certain hobbies as intangible cultural heritage, the way it has done with village feasts and falconry. Nor has it signed the relevant Council of Europe convention requiring that restrictions on traditional practices be properly justified.

Ultimately, politicians’ assertions that constitutional safeguards are the only guarantee for hobbyists are misleading.

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.