Padel is flourishing in Malta, with satellite imagery highlighting the spread of padel courts across the island, in some cases edging out tennis courts or football pitches.
Since the racket sport’s debut on the island in 2019, the number of publicly accessible padel courts has grown – mostly centred around Pembroke – as more enthusiasts take up the sport.
A Manoel Island car park saw the addition of a tennis court, before later being taken over for padel. Photo: Google Earth.
But while padel has seen a surge in popularity, satellite imagery suggests this has come at the cost of some five-a-side football pitches and tennis courts.
The images show the emergence of padel’s recognisable blue – and in one case, terracotta colour – courts in various locations across Malta. At the time of publication, there were no padel courts operating in Gozo.
Slide right to compare. A pitch close to St George’s Bay was replaced with padel and tennis courts. Photo: Google Earth.
The biggest jump in the number of courts appears to have been around 2023, when about 20 were added to Malta’s supply.
In total, Times of Malta counted around 40 padel courts across Malta, according to a popular padel court booking app, with satellite imagery suggesting some nine pitches previously used for tennis or five-a-side football have been repurposed for padel.
An area of a Mosta football pitch was repurposed for padel pitches. Photo: Google Earth.
A sport combining elements of tennis and squash with social features – such as music being played during some games – padel has ballooned in popularity since its introduction to Malta six years ago.
Padel has increased in popularity in Malta in recent years. Photo: Shutterstock.“It’s a racket sport that’s easy to master, and there’s also the social aspect – it’s a perfect combination,” said a spokesperson for IK Padel, the largest operator on the island with 25 courts.
IK’s large Padel Village site in Pembroke has seen tennis courts co-managed by one of it’s founders make way for padel courts. Photo: Google Earth.
He said the company was “always looking for sports facilities to convert”, but that it tried to avoid edging out tennis or football; “we love tennis and football. We usually do it [change the use of a site to padel] because a court is failing,” he said.
The spokesperson noted that prior tennis courts at Pembroke Gardens, now used for padel, had already been co-managed by one of IK Padel’s founders, while in the case of the company’s Manoel Island facilities the football pitch that had previously occupied the site had also been used for an amusement park.
A five-a-side football pitch in Valletta was replaced by padel courts. Photo: Google Earth.
IK Padel thinks that supply will eventually need to double should demand continue growing. But the company says it wants to “grow organically,” noting new courts risked oversupply while the sport was still gaining momentum.
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Malta Football Association president Bjorn Vassallo said that while there had been a “craze” of five-a-side matches around five years ago, padel had since overtaken in popularity.
He noted that with most of Malta’s five-a-side pitches used on a rental basis, some clubs had opted for “guaranteed income” by changing to padel, which he said could bring in up to three times the rental income due to the sport’s popularity.
Slide right to compare. Luxol sports club saw padel courts take over a pitch shortened by road widening, and others built on unused land and later roofed. Photo: Google Earth.
Slide right to compare. A football pitch in Luqa was replaced with padel courts. Photo: Google Earth.
Vassallo said replacing five-a-side football pitches with padel courts should be viewed on a case-by-case basis, however.
“In Pembroke, they already had a lot of padel courts,” he said, saying he disagreed with the change of use.
Malta Tennis Federation president Marc Gingell Littlejohn, meanwhile, said new padel courts should not come at the expense of tennis facilities: “We cannot keep decreasing the limited number of tennis courts we have”.
A site in Pembroke saw padel courts added next to tennis courts. Photo: Google Earth.
He said he had raised the federation’s concerns in a letter to SportMalta CEO Mark Cutajar in February, when he stressed it would “not accept any further demolition of tennis courts for padel”.
Gingell Littlejohn added that with a substantial quantity of land owned by the government – managed by SportMalta – it was in a position to act on the issue.
Slide right to compare. Padel courts joined existing pitches at a sports complex in Birkirkara. Photo: Google Earth.
However, he stressed the federation also represented padel and was “100% behind padel and wants it to grow – just not to the detriment of tennis”.
Cutajar acknowledged there had been a surge in padel popularity, but noted this was also being seen internationally, pointing to a “boom” of padel courts in Portugal, for example.
Slide right to compare. Tennis courts near the Salini Hotel in Naxxar were later joined by padel courts. Photo: Google Earth.
“It’s the trend across the world, but the best thing is to balance tennis and padel,” he said, adding that SportMalta’s mission was to keep people active, regardless of the sport.
An area of what appears to be unused land in Lija was repurposed for padel. Photo: Google Earth.
