Blue Lagoon 'remains public land', MTA says after official told beachgoer to go

Updated 5.20pm 

Comino's Blue Lagoon is public land "accessible to all",  the tourism authority stressed after one of its officials was filmed incorrectly telling a beachgoer that part of the bay is not public. 

"He pays here," a Malta Tourism Authority officer can be heard telling the beachgoer, in an apparent reference to a deckchair operator. "Find another place to go. If you want to stay here, we can... call the police." 

The video, posted on Wednesday by activist group Moviment Graffitti, was filmed on the morning of June 14.  

In it, two MTA officials tell a man he cannot stay in his spot. When the beachgoer asks if the area is public, one of the officials can be heard saying "no". 

While operators pay for concessions to rent out deckchairs and umbrellas at the popular Comino bay, the concessions do not grant them exclusive rights over usage of the bay. 

In a joing statement on Wednesday afternoon, the MTA and the Tourism Ministry noted the circulation of the video and the public discussion that followed. 

"The Authority and Ministry affirm that the Blue Lagoon and its surrounding bathing areas remain public land, accessible to all members of the public," it said. 

On the two men filmed giving out incorrect information to beachgoers, the authority and ministry said they "take seriously" the concerns raised about the public right of access and that protocols "reflect the importance of maintaining public access at all times, consistent with applicable safety requirements".

They said: "Site management at the Blue Lagoon requires officials to exercise operational judgments in a dynamic and heavily frequented environment."

The authority and ministry "remain committed to ensuring that public access is safeguarded, whilst continuing to work towards the responsible and sustainable management of the Blue Lagoon," the statement said. 

Graffitti said the video was an example of the way commercial interests have completely taken over the Blue Lagoon. It emphasised that it was not pushing for the MTA officials to be disciplined, as the problem was a systemic one.  

"While there are concessions for the placement of sunbeds and umbrellas in certain parts of the Blue Lagoon beach, these in no way grant sunbed operators a permanent right of occupation, let alone the authority to use public officials to remove beachgoers from a public beach," the NGO said. 

Problems with deckchair operators at the Blue Lagoon date back years, with operators regularly crowding out visitors and forcing them to rent deckchairs and umbrellas to occupy prime locations close to the water.

In 2023, then-Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo promised to open up deckchair concessions to a public tender. The concessions were renewed later that year without one. Successive ministers have resisted calls to publish concession details. 

The government has also kept a carrying capacity study it conducted for Comino secret, refusing Freedom of Information requests to release it. Last year it set a cap on the maximum number of visitors to the island at any given time. 

Graffiti said the evidence suggests that attempt at capping visitors has been an "absolute failure".

"It is telling that the government continues to refuse to publish the carrying capacity study on Comino, despite repeated requests and despite the Court recently ruling that Cabinet secrecy cannot be used as a blanket justification for undermining the public’s right to access this important information," Moviment Graffitti said.

"The stubborn refusal to publish a study that may reveal the harm being caused by the current commercially driven system to an important nature reserve once again shows that the Government feels more loyal to big business than to the public interest."

The NGO called for the situation to change immediately and is ready to take further action against the theft of public space and heritage by "greedy interests".

In a statement, the PN said the comments from the officials were unacceptable and demanded to know whether Comino has become "someone's monopoly because they are close to power".

"It is a clear symptom of a model of governance where the commercial interests of a select few close to power are given priority over the public’s rights, over environmental protection, and over the basic principle that public spaces belong to everyone," it said.

It called for the government to publish the carrying capacity study "without delay" and for the MTA and the tourism minster to set out what steps it would take to ensure the incident filmed by the beachgoer would not happen again.