The Planning Authority is trying to identify the owners of caravans located off the road in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, having already descended on illegally-parked caravans in Mistra.

Caravans can only be parked on roads provided they have an inbuilt engine. Non-motorised campers and trailers can park on the road only if they are secured to or towed by a vehicle.

Caravans have already started popping up at Mistra, Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, Marsascala and Salina, in what appears to be an annual annoyance to bathers.

At Mistra, in particular, a restaurateur said he had been losing clients since campers started parking their caravans just outside his terraced restaurant around 2008. 

Claude Camilleri told Times of Malta the situation was forcing him to pack up his business and consider leaving the island.

For Mellieħa mayor John Buttigieg it was an issue of enforcement but questions sent by the newspaper to the police last week have yet to be answered.

Over the past days, the PA and the transport watchdog slapped some caravans in Mistra with notices, urging them to get in line with the law.

Notices allow regulator to take further action

Transport Malta put up warnings to ensure the owners of a number of vehicles did not “encumber the bay to the detriment of others”. The notices allow the regulator to take further action against those not permitted to be in the area, including non-motorised caravans not attached to vehicles.

While the transport watchdog can issue fines for illegally-parked vehicles (motorised campers), this is not an option for non-motorised ones. The notices enable it to tow them away at a later date if the obstruction persists.

In the meantime, towable campers not accompanied by motorised vehicles have appeared in St Thomas Bay, campers were seen parked off the road at Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq and others took up parking spaces at Salina. 

When contacted, a spokesman said the PA’s enforcement remit was to proceed against campers not parked on the road or in a parking area.

“There is already a pending investigation on the campers parked in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq and the authority is in the process of identifying the owners to issue instructions accordingly,” the spokesman said.

Questions sent to Transport Malta remained unanswered at the time of writing.