The Valletta skyline is safeguarded by the honorary UNESCO World Heritage status and is one of Europe’s most beautiful cityscapes. Its distinctive limestone, churches and fortifications are testament to centuries of Maltese history and our cultural identity.

It is therefore definitely a view worth protecting, not only on a national level, but as a global beauty. Yet in recent months, this skyline has been visibly tainted. Five tower cranes now loom over the city, disrupting the experience of admiring Valletta from both the Grand Harbour and Pietà Creek as well as the Gzira and Sliema Strand.

These cranes represent a gradual restoration of the city’s long-abandoned and dilapidated buildings and ultimately it is in every developer’s best interest to complete their projects swiftly, especially considering the high costs associated with renting, maintaining, and operating such machinery. But the issue runs deeper than the individual temporary inconvenience and visual impairment.

With a constant flow of new development applications, mostly boutique hotels and apartments aimed for short-term rentals, many are proposing not just restorations but also additional floors to existing buildings which requires the use of tower cranes. Valletta therefore risks becoming a perpetual construction site.

The skyline, despite its protected status, could forever be overshadowed by cranes. If there’s always another project waiting to begin, the “temporary” disruption becomes a permanent one.

There are undeniable benefits to allowing construction to proceed freely: projects get completed faster, and restoration work ensures that the city does not fall into neglect. However, this raises a fundamental question about what is the point of protecting a skyline if it is continually obscured by tower cranes?

A more coordinated approach is needed. Authorities and developers should work in tranches, with clear timelines and phased schedules for projects in sensitive areas like Valletta. This would help mitigate the visual and psychological fatigue caused by constant construction activity, a fatigue felt not just by Valletta’s residents, but also by those in nearby localities such as Sliema, Gżira, Msida, and Pietà, who face the daily sight of cranes crowding the horizon.

Currently, Maltese law sets no time limit for how long a tower crane can remain in place. This opens the door for cranes to stand idle for months or even years, turning the skyline into a semi-permanent construction zone.

Perhaps it’s time for a broader discussion on how long these structures should be allowed to remain, and on the need for better coordination between projects.

Grouping developments together in defined periods could reduce overall disruption, lower costs, and even limit the frequency of infrastructure interventions such as roadworks, drainage updates, or electricity distribution adjustments.

If every undeveloped property in a development zone is eventually set to become a construction site, we face the risk of infinite chaos, in all our villages and towns,  skylines and villages in a constant state of change and flux.

Valletta deserves better. A protected skyline should be more than just a title; it should reflect an ongoing commitment to preserve not only the architecture of the past but also the beauty and serenity of the present view.