Abela says government struck ‘balance’ in Comino despite public access row

The government has struck a “fair balance” in managing Comino, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Wednesday, after MTA officials were filmed telling a beachgoer he could not stay in a public area. 

Speaking to the press outside parliament, Abela defended his government’s handling of the island, saying it had managed to control visitor numbers while keeping public land accessible.

“On Comino, I think we have managed to create a fair balance. With what has happened in the last few years, we have managed to control it,” said a slightly hesitant Abela. 

The prime minister also thanked the voluntary organisations that had helped improve the situation on the island.

Abela said the government had struck that balance by introducing a cap on the number of visitors allowed on Comino at any one time.

In 2025, the government introduced a booking system aimed at limiting the number of visitors at the Blue Lagoon to a maximum of 4,000 at any one time.

Visitors can book one of three daily slots: 8am to 1pm, 1.30pm to 5.30pm and 6pm to 10pm.

However, despite the new system, videos circulating on social media in recent weeks have shown visitors complaining that the Blue Lagoon remains overcrowded.

One recent video, which has been viewed more than 100,000 times, shows a packed Blue Lagoon. The person who filmed it said: “Comino is beautiful but there’s no room to breathe”.

Another clip, posted by activist group Moviment Graffitti, was filmed on the morning of June 14 and published on Wednesday.

In it, two MTA officials tell a man he cannot remain in his spot. When the beachgoer asks whether the area is public, one official can be heard saying “no”.

Later on Wednesday, the MTA and the Tourism Ministry confirmed that the Blue Lagoon and its surrounding bathing areas remain public land, accessible to all members of the public,

Abela described the officials’ reaction as “an isolated incident” but stopped short of directly criticising them.

He said that “if the official did not fulfil his role entirely, it is now up to the authority to decide.”

The prime minister said MTA officials had generally faced a challenging task in maintaining discipline in an area where, he said, there had previously been none.

He thanked them for their work and said that if there were any shortcomings, they would be looked into.

“Public land is there to be used by the people, and if there is a regularised concession, it should also be respected.”

Asked by Times of Malta whether the government would publish the Blue Lagoon carrying capacity study, Abela pointed to the visitor cap and booking app already in place, before quickly moving on.

“We dared to do what no one else did,” noted Abela. 

The study, which determines how many people Comino can handle, has remained confidential despite freedom of information requests.