Rosianne Cutajar Proposes Capping Blue Lagoon Visitors To Prevent Overcrowding
Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar has proposed capping the number of people who can visit Blue Lagoon as a means of safeguarding against overcrowding and overtourism.
“Some major worldwide attractions are limiting the number of visitors who can enter by day or year… should we do the same for Blue Lagoon?” Cutajar said on Instagram, asking her followers what they think.
The MP told Lovin Malta that she agrees with the proposal, noting that Italy’s popular Cinque Terre site had introduced similar measures.
Some popular global tourism destinations – such as Thailand’s Maya Beach and Iceland’s Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon – have gone a step further, entirely closing themselves off to visitors for long stretches of time.
There has long been talk about whether to impose some kind of capping system on Blue Lagoon, one of Malta’s most popular tourism destinations. Comino’s Natura 2000 Management Plan warns that the large volume of tourist visitors is harming the bay’s nature value and states that “it has to be decided whether a carrying capacity should be established to cap the number of visitors”.
This morning, a small group of Moviment Graffitti activists descended on Blue Lagoon, removed deckchairs and umbrellas from the beach, and placed their own towels instead.
As it stands, deckchair vendors are covering every inch of the shoreline with deckchairs and umbrellas from the crack of dawn, making it practically impossible to enjoy the beach – one of Malta’s natural treasures – unless you’re ready to pay €12.50 per person.
Although Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo has publicly come out against this takeover of Comino by private operators, there hasn’t been much in the way of action.
Do you think there should be a cap on visitors to Blue Lagoon?
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