The Jerma was a Marsascala landmark. Residents are divided on its future

The proposed redevelopment of the Jerma Hotel site remains a significant and controversial issue for Marsascala residents, researchers have found.

A new study, titled Tourism, Real Estate, and Urban Pressures: The case of Marsascala, Malta, was published at the end of August on the Open Research Europe website. The paper is authored by Karl Agius and Michael Briguglio from the University of Malta, and Jorge Luis Bermúdez Pérez from Universidad de La Laguna.

The study explores Marsascala, a traditional fishing village “through the lens of tourism development and its social repercussions”.

The future of the Jerma Palace Hotel site was highlighted as one of five central themes in the research, and described as a “major concern” by locals.

Map showing the locality of Marsascala in 1957. Photo provided by the Geomatics Unit, Planning Authority

The former hotel, located near St Thomas Bay, opened in 1982 and closed down in 2007. Since then, the building has fallen into dereliction, sparking years of speculation about its redevelopment.

The researchers said the Jerma featured heavily in all interviews conducted as part of the study.

They noted how, in its heyday, the hotel operated year-round and created positive spillovers into other smaller hotels and restaurants in the area. However, following its closure, “small hotels collapsed and restaurants were also badly impacted”.

The paper states that the hotel’s new proposed redevelop­ment “follows current trends that merge real estate with the development of the hotel to make the project feasible”.

Developer Joseph Portelli is seeking to turn the site into a complex, including 130 apartments, a 500-room hotel and a public square located in front of St Thomas Tower.

Some want a hotel. Others a park

While the redevelopment has sparked concern, residents are not united in their views. One interviewee said: “The problem in Marsascala is not an issue of bad planning but an issue of no planning.”

Map showing the locality of Marsascala in 2018. Photo provided by the Geomatics Unit, Planning Authority

The area where the Jerma stands, known locally as Siberia, now houses over 10,000 residents but lacks open green spaces. Some locals believe the government should reclaim the land and convert it into a public open space, rather than a tourism complex. Others are more supportive of the proposed redevelopment, citing the inclusion of a public square.

The researchers said many residents want to see the hotel rebuilt, but without the accompanying real estate development, even if this means sacrificing the public square.

They noted: “Most Marsascala residents want to be on the tourism map and want to see the hotel rebuilt and for more other hotels to become part of the locality.”

However, not everyone is convinced.

“We ruined almost all Malta, now we want to ruin here too?” one resident asked, warning that development could begin at eight floors and eventually expand, further straining infrastructure.

Another interviewee said the project could bring economic benefits but worsen existing issues such as traffic and parking.

The researchers drew on a combination of in-depth interviews, field observations, aerial photography from 1957 to 2018, online listings, and secondary sources.

They also applied Young’s (1983) six-stage model of “touristification”,  a framework that describes how localities move from traditional economic bases like fishing and agriculture to a tourism-driven economy. However, the authors argue that Marsascala has moved beyond these six stages and is now experiencing a seventh phase they term “real estateisation”.

“We are proposing that more areas which previously served for other purposes start to merge or gradually be taken over by real estate projects, as is the case with the proposed redevelopment of the Jerma Hotel into a tourism and real estate project,” the researchers said.

In the last quarter of 2022, Marsascala saw the highest number of building permits for residences issued, with 203 approved new dwellings. 

More than a million tourists visited Malta in first four months of 2025, according to the National Statistics Office, surpassing what were record figures in 2024 by more than 17 per cent.