St Paul's Bay council votes to request tourist tax money from MTA
ADPD's Sandra Gauci decries 'puerile' reaction to her motion by Labour councillors
St Paul’s Bay local council will be formally asking the government for tourist tax revenue collected from visitors who stay in the coastal town.
The request is the brainchild of ADPD – the Green Party, whose chairperson Sandra Gauci serves as a councillor in St Paul’s Bay, which is the country’s most populated town.
Councillors voted to approve a Gauci-led motion during a meeting held on Friday. The motion called on councillors to formally request eco-tax revenue pertaining to St Paul’s Bay tourists.
Labour Party councillors voted against the motion and “descended into yelling and insults,” ADPD said in a statement on Friday.
Tourists in Malta are charged a €0.50c per day eco-tax, capped at €5 per tourist.
St Paul’s Bay is a tourism-focused town. According to publicly available data, there are 28 hotels, three guest houses and 200 short-let premises registered in the town.
Currently, all eco-tax revenue ends up with the Malta Tourism Authority.
The St Paul’s Bay local council received €2 million in funding from the government in 2023, according to figures published by the National Audit Office. The town has more than 35,000 residents.
Gauci: Labour councillors' yelling 'puerile'
ADPD chairperson and St Paul’s Bay councillor Sandra Gauci said the town is feeling the strains of mass tourism and that making eco-tax revenue available to the council would help it improve locals’ quality of life.
She also called on authorities to revise the “ridiculous” daily €0.50c rate and €5 cap, “to one that makes sense and is based on the impact tourism has in our localities”.
Gauci expressed disappointment with Labour coucillors’ angry reaction to her motion.
“They see every proposal as an attack on the government and the Labour Party. They are incapable of discussion or of acting like adults during council meetings. It’s a puerile way of doing politics,” she said.