Tourism cannot grow at expense of residents’ quality of life - Borg

Residents’ quality of life in tourist-heavy areas is “going down the drain” because Malta is prioritising visitor numbers over tourism quality, Opposition leader Alex Borg said on Sunday.

Speaking on the NET programme Analiżi, the Nationalist Party leader was reacting to recent reports of antisocial behaviour by tourists in Swieqi.

Borg said such behaviour, including “littering, noise and vandalism”, were not just a recent occurrence but had persisted for months and even years.

He said Swieqi was intended to be a residential area but was now facing growing pressure from tourism.

“As there is a focus on numbers and not the quality of tourism, these residential areas are facing an influx of tourists.”

He added: “ Tourism is important, but it can't grow to the detriment of the quality of life of residents”

Borg said the Government’s first concern should be residents.

“They deserve to live a life in peace and tranquillity, and because of the high number of tourists, the residents' quality of life has gone down the drain.”

Borg said he had visited Swieqi and planned to visit St Julian’s and Sliema to speak to residents and local councils.

He said councils were often residents’ first point of contact but lacked the powers needed to address such problems directly.

According to Borg, councils were instead forced to depend on central government authorities to act.

Swieqi, which borders Paceville, has seen repeated complaints about noise, littering, vandalism and other antisocial behaviour linked to tourists, many of whom stay in short-term rental accommodation.

Home Affairs Minister Glenn Bedingfield has said he wants to increase new on-the-spot fines for antisocial behaviour after acknowledging that current penalties are too low to deter disruptive tourists.

Transport concerns

Borg also criticised official figures on bus overcrowding, saying he was not sure “whether to laugh or cry “ after hearing that only one bus had been formally recorded as overcrowded in 2024 and 2025.

The figure emerged from a parliamentary question answered by Transport Minister Chris Bonett.

Borg described the reply as “surreal”, saying anyone passing a crowded bus stop or seeing packed buses could tell that overcrowding was widespread.

“There is a world apart from the figures that were presented to the day-to-day reality we see.”

He attributed packed buses to population growth and infrastructure that had failed to keep pace.

Borg said similar pressures could be seen in the electricity infrastructure and sewage systems.

“Since there wasn’t a clear plan on how to invest in the energy infrastructure of our country based on the population, we end up in this situation with power cuts and sewage problems," he said, adding “you end up with an infrastructure that crumbles.”

His comments came after power cuts were reported in several parts of the country during the hottest weekend of the year so far.

Borg said outages caused particular concern among self-employed shop owners, older and vulnerable people, including those who rely on oxygen equipment.

Party reforms

Borg also spoke about planned internal reforms within the Nationalist Party after receiving the support of 98.2 per cent of party councillors in a confidence vote on Wednesday.

He promised “revolutionary reforms of the party's statute” which will be "entirely changed to be more modern, dynamic and practical". 

The Opposition leader added that the party's priority is to continue being present in communities and listening to people. 

The confidence vote was held under party rules after the general election. The post was uncontested and 1,486 votes were cast.