Potential Visitor Cap For Comino As Minister Confirms Carrying Capacity Plans ‘Being Finalised’
There could soon be caps on the number of people who can visit Comino at any given moment, with Environment Minister Miriam Dalli confirming that a process to establish a carrying capacity for the island is being finalised.
In 2016, a Comino’s Natura 2000 Management Plan warned that the large volume of tourist visitors is harming nature in the Blue Lagoon and stated that “it has to be decided whether a carrying capacity should be established to cap the number of visitors”.
An inter-ministerial committee was then set up to commission a study into the carrying capacity of a number of areas of Comino but everything went quiet on that front since then.
In Parliament, PN MP Mark Anthony Sammut sought an update from Dalli, with the Environment Minister giving the impression that the plans remain very much on the table.
“Those studies have been commissioned and are currently being used to finalise the process to establish Comino’s carrying capacity,” she said. “The process to stabilise the carrying capacity is under the responsibility of the Comino Committee that must be re-constituted.”
However, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo responded to Sammut’s questions about this committee by referring him to a statement he had given in Parliament last year.
Back then, he said that the committee had met up 22 times since it was set up in 2017 and that it is composed of representatives from the Tourism Ministry, the Malta Tourism Authority, ERA, Transport Malta and the Gozo Ministry.
Sammut was left baffled at how one minister (Dalli) said the committee needs to be set up again, while her colleague (Bartolo) gave the impression that it is still active.
“Can you tell me what’s going on over here?” he asked.
Comino was recently the target of direct action by Moviment Graffitti activists, who descended on Blue Lagoon, removed deckchairs and umbrellas from the beach, and placed their own towels instead.
Following this action, PL MP Rosianne Cutajar called for a cap on the number of people who can visit Blue Lagoon as a means of safeguarding against overcrowding and overtourism.
Do you think there should be a cap on visitors to Comino or Blue Lagoon?
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