Latest News & Actions
Malta Gone Wild is not only about highlighting problems. We also want to highlight action, solutions and people making a difference.
Here you will find updates about:
- Action taken by authorities and Local Councils
- Enforcement and successful complaints
- Community initiatives and clean-ups
- Charities and voluntary organisations
- Environmental projects
- Animal welfare initiatives
- Practical solutions improving Malta and Gozo
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Has a problem been resolved? Has an authority taken action? Do you know of a charity, community initiative or project that deserves more attention?
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Problem → Action → Solution
Highlighting problems matters. Highlighting what works matters too.
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Another Piece of Sliema’s Public Space Taken Over — Who Approved This?
Another sizeable structure has appeared on The Strand in Sliema, this time outside the Carlo Stivala development at the corner of Triq il-Lunzjata. And residents are asking a very simple question: Who approved this? The structure extends over a substantial part of the pavement immediately beside a busy junction. This is not some quiet side…
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Malta Needs Better-Trained, Better-Equipped Police and Far More of Them on Our Streets
This summer should have been a wake-up call. St Julian’s, Paceville, Swieqi, Sliema and Gżira were bursting at the seams. Drunken behaviour, shouting in residential streets, public urination, fights, parties, drugs, vandalism and general anti-social behaviour became an almost routine part of summer life in some of Malta’s busiest areas. And far too often, residents…
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Comino Gets a Reprieve: Tribunal Suspends Tree-Removal Permit After Years of Public Resistance
Comino has been given an important — if temporary — reprieve. The Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) has suspended the environmental permit that would have allowed preparatory works for the proposed Six Senses Comino development, including the removal and transplantation of hundreds of trees and shrubs. The suspension means those works cannot proceed while…
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Malta’s Most Endangered Species: Fresh Tarmac
In Malta, freshly laid tarmac doesn’t come with a lifespan. It comes with a countdown. Four months ago, Triq Għajn Dwieli — the road linking Paola with Cottonera — received some fresh asphalt in the run-up to the general election. It looked smooth. It looked clean. It looked almost… permanent. Rookie mistake. The excavators are…
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Pressure Mounts on Johann Buttigieg Resignation
The calls for Planning Authority Executive Chairperson Johann Buttigieg to leave his post are no longer coming from one corner of civil society. MGW count: at least 37 distinct organisations, associations and political parties have now publicly called for Johann Buttigieg to resign or be removed from the Planning Authority. The number is based on…
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After Daphne’s March: The Messages Malta Was Left With
Thousands walked through Valletta on Wednesday demanding justice, accountability and an end to impunity. But when the march ended and the crowds began to leave, the story did not end with the numbers in the streets. What remained were the messages. From Daphne Caruana Galizia’s father and nieces, to her son Matthew, civil society groups…
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Lilu King Loses Refugee Status
Some people collect stamps. Some collect watches. Some collect loyalty points. Mohamed Ali Ahmed Elmushraty — better known in Malta as Lilu King — appears to have accumulated something rather different over the years: an impressively long relationship with the Maltese court system. And now there is another entry to add to the file. Lilu…
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Thousands Fill Valletta in Call for Justice, Accountability and Clean Governance
Thousands of people filled Valletta on Wednesday evening in a powerful public call for justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia, greater accountability and stronger, cleaner governance in Malta. The crowd gathered near Parliament before moving through the capital towards Great Siege Square, opposite the law courts and the memorial to the murdered journalist. Placards, chants and…
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MHRA Is Right: Malta Cannot Sell ‘Quality Tourism’ While Tolerating Weekend Chaos
The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association has every right to be angry. After years of hearing that Malta wants to move away from tourism based simply on numbers and towards a supposedly “higher-value, higher-quality and more respectful” visitor, the events of last weekend raise an obvious question: Are we actually changing Malta’s tourism model —…
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“No Overtourism in Malta”? The Numbers Tell a Very Different Story
The head of the World Travel & Tourism Council has said Malta does not have an overtourism problem — at least not yet. But with more than four million tourists arriving in a country of fewer than 600,000 residents, perhaps it is worth looking beyond the label and asking a much simpler question: how much…
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St Julian’s Council Puts Infrastructure Malta on Notice Over Months-Long Triq il-Kbira Works
Residents of St Julian’s who have been living with the unfinished works in Triq il-Kbira for months may finally be seeing some pressure being applied where it matters. The St Julian’s Local Council has formally written to Infrastructure Malta through its lawyers, demanding action over the prolonged state of Main Street. And credit where it…
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Who Is Actually Policing Malta’s Restaurant Tables?
PUBLIC SPACE • RESTAURANTS • SAFETY • ENFORCEMENT Walk through Sliema, Gżira, Valletta, St Julian’s, Marsaxlokk, Victoria or almost any heavily commercialised area in Malta and Gozo and the same question keeps coming back: HOW MUCH PUBLIC SPACE CAN A RESTAURANT TAKE BEFORE SOMEBODY ACTUALLY SAYS: THIS IS TOO MUCH? Outdoor dining is not the…
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Sliema Residents Are Still Waiting: What Is the Status of These Long-Pending Issues?
Sliema residents have been raising many of the same problems for months — and in some cases for years. Some improvements have been made and, where good work is carried out, it should absolutely be acknowledged. But a long list of unresolved problems remains. We are therefore asking Mayor John Pillow, the Deputy Mayor and…
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Mallorca Is Cutting Holiday Rentals — So Why Is Malta Still Adding More?
Holiday rental listings across the Balearic Islands have fallen by more than 3,000 properties in just one year. Meanwhile, Malta and Gozo currently have approximately 8,279 licensed short-let properties. MALTA & GOZO 8,279 licensed short-let properties ROUGHLY 1 LICENSED SHORT LETFOR EVERY 71 RESIDENTS The Balearics: More Than 3,000 Fewer Holiday Rentals 24,361 advertised holiday…
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Does Malta Really Need More Tourist Accommodation?
Malta continues to break tourism records, while new hotels, guesthouses and short-let properties continue to enter the market. But before Malta adds thousands more tourist beds, there is a fairly obvious question that deserves to be asked: Do Malta and Gozo actually have a shortage of tourist accommodation? The available official figures suggest that, nationally,…
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Comino Watch: Moviment Graffitti Calls on the Public to Help Protect Comino
Comino may soon need many more eyes watching over it. Moviment Graffitti has launched “Comino Watch”, a public monitoring initiative calling on residents, visitors, boat owners and anyone travelling around Comino to immediately report signs of demolition, excavation, construction, tree removal or the transportation of heavy machinery to the island. The initiative follows ERA’s decision…
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St Paul’s Bay Already Has Community Police. So Why Are Residents Still Asking for More?
Residents in St Paul’s Bay are adding their voices to a debate that is becoming increasingly difficult for Malta to ignore: how much policing is enough in localities facing rapid population growth, tourism pressure and increasingly busy streets? There is an important distinction to make from the outset. St Paul’s Bay already has Community Police.…
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Malta Summer Carnival 2026
15 Floats Set to Take Over Buġibba and Marsaskala For once, here’s a summer crowd we can happily get behind. Malta’s Summer Carnival is returning this weekend, bringing three evenings of colour, music, dancing and traditional carnival craftsmanship to the streets of Buġibba and Marsaskala. Il-Karnival tas-Sajf 2026 will take place from Friday 21 to…
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Barcelona Is Phasing Out Short-Lets
Malta Should Be Asking Why For many residents, 2026 has felt like the year short-lets started popping up like mushrooms across Malta. Another apartment becomes tourist accommodation. Then another. Then another. The people who actually live in the street remain there, but the neighbours around them change every few days. Suitcases roll through apartment blocks…
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Malta Wants the Tourists. But Who Is Protecting the Residents?
Tourism is vital to Malta. Nobody seriously disputes that. But somewhere along the way, “tourism is important” appears to have become an excuse for residents to tolerate almost anything. Rubbish dumped outside on the wrong days. Large groups shouting through residential streets at night. Short-lets operating next door to families trying to sleep. Party boats…