ADPD says overtourism is damaging communities and fuelling abuse

ADPD, The Green Party has warned that overtourism is harming the daily lives of residents, damaging local infrastructure, and encouraging land speculation, while the government continues to promote policies that push for more tourism without proper regulation.
 
“This is utter madness, and the consequences will not be pretty,” said Carmel Cacopardo, Deputy Chairperson of ADPD, during a press conference in Swieqi on Saturday morning.

The party spoke out strongly against the Vision 2050 plan, which aims to attract 4.5 million tourists to Malta by 2035. They pointed to current trends showing that the 4 million mark may already be reached by the end of this year, calling the approach irresponsible and unsustainable.

Cacopardo said many towns, like Swieqi, are being completely changed. “Various localities are practically perpetual building construction sites,” he said. “Two-storey buildings built around 40 to 50 years ago are being demolished to make way for blocks of apartments, and instead of a single residential unit there are now multiple residential units.”

According to Cacopardo, a growing number of these apartments are being used as short-let rentals. This is turning residential areas into “tourist villages,” putting extra pressure on local infrastructure and services, and making life harder for those who live there.

He criticised the widespread practice of short-term letting in residential zones, calling it “a negative development” that is not compatible with the purpose of these areas. He added that the practice has been copied from mainland Europe, where it is already causing serious problems.

ADPD said local councils should have a direct say in short-term rental permits. “Permits for short-term rentals should not be granted without the consent of the local council concerned,” Cacopardo said. “Why are local councils, which are so necessary to this, being completely ignored?”

Ralph Cassar, Secretary General of ADPD, also spoke during the press conference. He said that tourism is being used as a cover to support land speculation and that the government’s focus on high tourist numbers is ignoring deeper problems in the sector.

“With the spread of fast-paced tourism and with no control in residential areas, the current political and economic approach is to maximise on land speculation to inflate the tourism statistics,” Cassar said.

He pointed to a report by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) which showed that from 2009 to 2019, the number of Maltese workers in tourism fell from 82% to just 40.6%. “This is the result of an industry that has been allowed to grow unchecked, whilst the authorities entrusted with the regulation of activities in the industry sit idly by,” he said.

Cassar raised concerns about apartments originally meant for residents being used for tourism without proper permission or registration. “This is leading to more abuse in the tourism industry, pushing out residents from residential zones,” he said.

The Green Party called on the government to start giving taxes collected from tourist beds directly to local councils. They also criticised the current cap of €5 and the 50 cent daily tax, calling them far too low to reflect the real impact of tourism.

“There is an urgent need to involve the local councils in the effort to defend and retain the identity of our localities,” Cassar said.