Packed buses, crowded streets: Malta’s overtourism gets a social media page

A new Instagram page tackling overtourism is putting a spotlight on a simple frustration: a five-minute walk through Valletta can now take 15 minutes.

‘Overtouristed Malta’, a page campaigning against unsustainable tourism, was launched three weeks ago by activist Michaela Pia Camilleri.

Its videos capture the daily squeeze: buses packed to the doors, bins spilling onto the street and waves of tourists moving through public spaces. 

“Trying to walk through the crowds on Republic Street, even in May, began to feel like I was in an obstacle course,” Camilleri said.

The page began with a reel showing what it is like to walk through Valletta before the peak summer season. It showed pedestrians competing for space with tables and chairs along Merchants Street, before facing crowds of tourists on Republic Street, slowly moving towards the Triton Fountain.

For many who work in Valletta, the video captured a familiar daily reality.

She said she felt there was a gap in local activism when it came to mass overtourism.

While concerns about hotels, short lets and tables and chairs in public spaces were often raised, she said the broader issue of overtourism was not being addressed directly.

As someone who commutes through Floriana, Camilleri said she had also seen the impact of cruise ships on the locality’s older and shrinking community.

“The cruise ships make so much noise; residents in Floriana complain about it, but there are so few residents left there nowadays that their voices aren’t being heard.”

She added: “You end up feeling so claustrophobic because you can’t escape the noise.”

Camilleri stressed she is not against tourism but believes overtourism is a different beast altogether.

“For me, one of my main concerns is the large number of tourists when we consider Malta’s size. We are way too small for this quantity,” she noted.

According to the National Statistics Office, inbound tourists in 2025 totalled 4,022,310, an increase of 12.9 per cent over 2024. Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €3,904.4 million, 18.6 per cent higher than the previous year.

Camilleri said she wanted Malta to set a carrying capacity for tourism, arguing that the island needed to establish how many visitors it could realistically sustain without harming residents’ quality of life.

She said she would like Malta to attract visitors who do not simply “consume” the country quickly and cheaply, but tourists who truly aim at getting to know the country and its inhabitants.  “Truly engage with the locals and don’t treat them just as products.”

She said the number and type of tourists visiting Malta have a real impact on residents’ daily lives, including access to public transport and ferry services.

Times of Malta recently reported on a Gozitan man whose journey home took longer than his flight from London to Malta, after he faced long queues for the fast ferry service before the peak summer season had even begun.

Camilleri said housing was another major concern.

“Floriana is a prime example. As much as I would love to live there, I can’t afford it anymore. So much of it has become Airbnbs.”

She said the spread of short-let accommodation had pushed up property prices and weakened the community.

Truly engage with the locals and don’t treat them just as products

Floriana mayor Nigel Holland has previously raised concerns about the future of residents in the town because of the growth of hotels and short-let accommodation.

'Satisfying the tourist gaze'

Camilleri also linked overtourism to Malta’s colonial history and the way the country is presented to visitors.

“Overtourism goes hand in hand with a new form of colonialism. The country is the servile body made to appease the tourist,” said Camilleri, who had just finished writing a review of Charles Xuereb’s book, Decolonising the Maltese Mind.

She said Malta often made an effort to “satisfy the tourist gaze”, including through the names used for bays and landmarks, citing Golden Bay rather than Il-Mixquqa and Blue Grotto rather than Il-Ħnejja as examples.

She also said parts of British rule were often presented to tourists in a positive light, noting that the UK remains one of Malta’s largest tourism markets.

Since launching the page, Camilleri said ‘Overtouristed Malta’ had received strong online engagement, with the page reaching over 180,000 views in only three weeks. 

“When people see you have good things to say, they will share it because they believe in it, not because someone paid them to.”

But she said online awareness was only a first step. She hoped frustration about overtourism would eventually move offline.

“Ideally, this creates enough anger for people to want to go out and protest.” 

Overtourism protests have taken place in Spain, Venice and Lisbon. However, Malta has yet to see large protests focused directly on overtourism, though demonstrations have been held over hotel developments and the spread of tables and chairs in public spaces.

Until then, ‘Overtouristed Malta’ is encouraging residents who see the impact of mass tourism in their daily lives to send footage to overtouristedmalta@gmail.com – and turn frustration into pressure for change.