Despite the visitor cap, the Blue Lagoon remains overcrowded — raising questions about actual enforcement (Photo: Miguela Xuereb)The government may have welcomed the news that Malta welcomed over 4 million tourists last year, but ADPD – The Green Party does not see cause for celebration, warning that the effect of overtourism in Malta had become very clear.
NSO statistics published on Thursday confirmed that Malta received an estimated 4,022,310 tourists last year. 2025 tourist numbers were three times as much as the numbers reported just 15 years before: Malta welcomed just 1,338,841 tourists in 2010, and those numbers had actually set a new record.
ADPD said that while tourism stayed an important economic sector, it was harmful when it was pursued “without planning, without limits and without respecting communities and the environment.”
Party chairperson Sandra Gauci stressed that the party had long insisted that pursuing ever-growing numbers of tourists was not sustainable.
“4 million tourists a year are too many, and it is very clear that we have no place for more hotels and tourist accommodation. The facts show that more tourists do not mean more quality or more wealth distributed equitably. Instead, they mean more traffic, more garbage, more pressure on our water and energy resources, and more exploitation of our public land and our coasts through concessions that often favour a select few. It also means more exploitation of works in low-quality jobs,” Gauci said.
“Ironically, in its vision 2050, the government is proposing more and more tourists,” she mused: the document aimed for 4.5 million tourists a year by 2035, a number that may well be surpassed far earlier.
Gauci observed that Comino was a blatant example of how tourism numbers had reached alarming levels, with the Natura 2000 site overexploited for commercial ends to its detriment.
“Local communities are also paying a social price: increased rents, zones that lose their character, and coastlines transformed from public spaces to a near-monopoly for commercial operators practically before the sun is even up,” she said, highlighting her hometown – St Paul’s Bay – as an example of this.
Gauci emphasised that various tourist destinations had recognised the need for political courage and controls, including measures taken to control numbers in Venice and to reduce the commercial takeover of beaches in Ibiza.
She argued that Malta should follow suit and place long-term interests above immediate profits.
The party’s proposals
The party called for:
- A national tourism strategy focusing on quality over quantity
- Setting clear limits on tourism and stopping any increase in Malta’s tourist accommodation capacity, whether through hotels or short-lets
- Setting clear limits on the capacity of beaches and sensitive sites
- Transparency and justice in tenders and concessions for public land and beaches
- A tourism sector that respects the environment and local communities
- Effective enforcement against abuses and illegalities
- Improving the tourist eco-contribution, and ensuring that all proceeds are devolved to local councils
ADPD stressed that Malta’s heritage should not be treated as “a money factory for those with access and contacts,” but safeguarded for future generations.
“Malta cannot keep basing its economy on the limitless exploitation of its land and seas. We need a change in mentality and political courage to stop pursuing a model that leaves a negative impact on the environment, on communities and on the tourist experience,” the party concluded.
