Malta might be tiny. But walking to an open space takes ages

Malta may be the smallest EU country but it is also the country where people have to walk most to reach the nearest open space.

A Eurobarometer survey reveals that the Maltese are the most likely in Europe to report having to walk “more than half an hour” to reach the nearest green space.

While only 3% of all EU respondents reported having to walk more than 30 minutes, in Malta 21% reported having to walk the same distance.

And while 50% of all European live within a 5-minute distance of the nearest green space, in Malta only 22% report living in such proximity to green spaces.

In this aspect only the Romanians, 16% of which live within a five-minute walk of a green space, are worse off than the Maltese. In contrast 85% of Finns live within a five-minute walk of a green space.  Even in Cyprus which has a similar climate to Malta, 42% live five minutes away from a green space.

The survey shows that 24% of Maltese respondents live between 11 to 20 minutes away from a green space.

A large majority of European respondents (85%) say that they are satisfied with the quality of the green space nearest to their home. In Malta only 62% report being satisfied.

And while only 2% of all EU respondents are very dissatisfied with the quality of the nearest green space, dissatisfaction runs at 16% in Malta.

Slovenians are the most satisfied about the quality of the nearest green space in Europe with 68% reporting being very satisfied followed by the Danes 63% of which are also very satisfied. At the other end of the scale the Maltese are the most likely to report being very dissatisfied (16%).

This information emerged from a survey on fairness and the European green transition, which was conducted in all EU member states in June, with the results being published on Monday.