Former Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo also weighed in, highlighting that irresponsible tourists are turning a quiet residential area into a chaos zone.

He states that as of current, there are over 364 short let apartments which are being rented out to over 2000 tourists. Saying that these figures are only those with a legal permit, hinting that at the fact that there probably is various short and long terms arrangements being done without the involvement of the law.

He added that, according to the Central Bank, as of November 2019 there were 8,761 short-let apartments rented out to tourists across Malta and Gozo. Current figures from the Malta Tourism Authority show around 6,000 of these apartments are operating with a proper permit.

“Is it really possible that in six years the number has decreased rather than increased?” he questioned.

He also highlighted that, according to the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, more than 10,000 apartments are being rented out to tourists, with over 4,000 of these operating without a permit.

He concluded by pointing out that many of these unlicensed operators are also avoiding taxes, despite the government stating that fines of €23,000 would be imposed on each. He questioned whether any of these fines have actually been issued so far.

“Possibli li f’sitt snin naqsu u mhux żdiedu?”

(Is it possible that in 6 years, they decreased and not decreased?)

Do you think stricter laws should be in place about permits?