[WATCH] Operators on Comino still putting out deckchairs and umbrellas before tourists arrive

Umbrellas and deckchairs on Comino take up space on the jetty and rocky outcrops before tourists arrive, Moviment Graffitti said on Monday.

Activists from the group returned to Comino over the weekend, a month after they took direct action to remove unoccupied deckchairs and umbrellas that hog the Blue Lagoon foreshore.

In the aftermath of Graffitti’s widely acclaimed action, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo had ordered that operators do not set up deckchairs on the sandy beach and the number would be limited elsewhere. Prime Minister Robert Abela had claimed that balance was achieved.

However, Graffitti contend otherwise. “The idea of balance on Comino is a lie… While it’s true that there are no longer deckchairs on the beach, vendors are still putting deckchairs out before tourists arrive, both on the jetty, and the other sandy area.”

Video footage filmed by the activists also shows the beach and rocks littered with the remains of pineapple cocktails, plastic cups and other rubblish, from previous days. 
“After a couple of hours of relative tranquillity, the large boats begin arriving and depositing hundreds of tourists onto the island. Moviment Graffitti is calling for these big boats to be banned from Comino,” the group said.

The arrival of so many tourists at one go is causing overcrowding with the multiple kiosks along the footpaths playing blaring music.

But the problems are not limited to the Blue Lagoon with activists arguing that a walk along the coast reveals the strain being put on the island. 

Further inland, access to San Niklaw Bay has been completely blocked off by the Hili Group, which is planning to redevelop the Comino Hotel site into luxury villas and a hotel.

“If this is Robert Abela’s ideal of balance, then this paradise between Malta and Gozo will be destroyed in a few years. Instead of empty words, action needs to be taken now,” Graffitti said.