As Qala lands move out of Church control, farmers receive notice of hiked rents

Residents and farmers in Qala who spoke to MaltaToday are on tenterhooks, after receiving letters from lawyers representing the foundation Abbazia di Sant Antonio delli Navarra, demanding exorbitant hikes in their annual leases

Part of the territory in Qala believed to be part of the Giuspatronat
Part of the territory in Qala believed to be part of the Giuspatronat

The Maltese archdiocese has refused to explain what degree of control it has retained with the ‘possessors’ of a foundation created in 1675, to safeguard a vast tract of residential lands and the countryside around Qala, stretching out to the coastline.

The lands are part of a foundation created by the noblewoman Cosmana Navarra, the rules of which demand that its possessor be a male descendant, but also that the foundation is administered by a ‘rector’ appointed with the blessing of the bishop of Malta.

In 2017, the Maltese church came to an agreement with the Stagno Navarra family, who have laid claim to the foundation and its assets since the 1990s, which regulates the degree of consent from the Archbishop that the foundation’s has to negotiate on the lands sold or leased to farmers and residents.

Read the original story • Church ‘released’ Gozo land tipped for cruise port for just €200,000

The agreement allows the Archbishop retains the right to validate any land transfers, save for those dealing with temporary emphyteuses.
But that has residents and farmers in Qala who spoke to MaltaToday on tenterhooks, after receiving letters from lawyers representing the foundation Abbazia di Sant Antonio delli Navarra, demanding exorbitant hikes in their annual leases.

“I was asked to pay 30 times the amount I have for the four tumuli of land I till here in Qala,” one farmer told MaltaToday this week. “It’s not worth it. Some people are paying it under duress, while others are considering abandoning the land.”

The main actors in this land saga are the Stagno Navarra family, who since the 1990s have been working hand in hand with lawyer Carmelo Galea – a legal advisor to the Gozo bishop – and retired magistrate Dennis Montebello. Together, the parties recently formed the company Carravan Limited.

Montebello’s daughter’s partner, the lawyer Peter Valentino, is now the appointed rector of the Abbazia, with the blessing of the Archbishop, giving the foundation clearer control on the lands. The agreement also included the payment of €200,000 to the Maltese church – money that arguably should cover pious obligations to Cosmana Navarra as laid out in the foundation’s rules from the 1600s.

A Church spokesperson yesterday refused to explain what the money will be used for.

While the Church has no title to the lands, Qala residents fear unchecked control of the lands in private hands is about to exacerbate the price of the land.

Examples from Qala residents include one family whose land, acquired by a family of farmers since the 1890s for a pittance in today’s prices, had its emphyteusis expire in 1990.

At this time, the Abbazia’s rector, a cleric, had passed away, paving the way for a protracted battle in court between the Church and the late Richard Stagno Navarra, who demanded he became the rector of the Abbazia.

In 2010, the family filed a court case to force the Church to extend its emphyteutical grant.

The Church was then still objeting to a dubious 24-hour decision by then magistrate Carol Peralta, how in 1992  recognised Stagno Navarra as the Abbazia’s rector. Stagno Navarra was then already inking deals with Montebello and Galea’s company to lease them the land, ostensibly for development purposes.

That matter was resolved in 2013, when the Court of Appeal impugned Peralta’s decision and recognised the Church’s representative as the rector of the Abbazia.

The Qala family who spoke to MaltaToday said they were reassured by that news, when soon after the court threw out their case. “We breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that with the Church in control, we could negotiate an honest price for the land.”

There is a catch to this story: their lawyer had been the renowned Carmelo Galea. Perhaps the family was unknowing of the complex network of interests on the Qala land.

And indeed little did they know that in February 2017, the Maltese archdiocese had accepted the Stagno Navarras’ request to appoint Peter Valentino as the rector of the Abbazia.

“We went to a meeting at the courtroom thinking we were going to deal with a Church representative. At that point, Galea told us we were meeting Valentino, the rector of the Abbazia.”

The family finally paid €450,000 to have a perpetual title on the land, registered in their name with the Lands Authority.

The Archdiocese has not answered MaltaToday’s questions as to what extent it has devolved its control entirely on these ‘prices hikes’ on the Qala lands and their leases.

Notarial records also show the Abbazia has transferred over 27,000 square metres of land to Carravan, the company jointly owned by Galea, Montebello and Stagno Navarra, for an annual €35,000 emphyteusis.

MaltaToday asked the Archdiocese what sort of consent it is obliged to give to the Abbazia on land deals and transfers, to understand whether the foundation’s rules have been amended under the 2017 agreement with the Stagno Navarras. No answer was given.

Last week, MaltaToday also reported that the Abbazia is in a court battle with quarry owners Gatt Developments, who had earmarked the land for the development of a cruise liner terminal.