The Maltese shouldn't have to book to go to the Blue Lagoon, PN MP says

Maltese people should not have to book to visit Comino's Blue Lagoon, according to Nationalist Party MP Alex Borg, the shadow minister for Gozo.

The Malta Tourism Authority announced on Tuesday that visitor capping including an online booking system would be launched on Thursday, to reduce visitor numbers and protect the area’s environment.  

Individuals or groups arriving by private or commercial vessels and wishing to set foot at the Blue Lagoon will need to pre-book using a free online system bluelagooncomino.mt. 

Borg said in a Facebook post that while he understood that there needed to be some form of control on the large number of people that visit Comino, especially in summer, he questioned why Maltese people needed to book to visit part of their own country.

"A family that wants to visit after work, or someone who has a boat and wants to spend a day there - do they have to book now as well? Not every outing has to be planned three days in advance," he said, calling the system a step backwards.

"I cannot agree with a system that treats citizens and tourists equally," he said, adding that it was the latter that contributed the most to overcrowding.

Borg suggested that only tourists who arrived on the island on cruises or tourist boats should have to book, while Maltese people who arrive by their own means, such as by private boat or kayak, would be exempt.

"The balance between safeguarding the environment and the rights of citizens is a delicate one. Comino belongs to us all, and we should carry on enjoying it without senseless restrictions," he said.

Meanwhile, Moviment Graffitti said that the booking system is full of loopholes and does not tackle the main cause of the island’s exploitation.

The NGO said the plan intentionally overlooked the impact of large tourist vessels, such as the ones that leave from Sliema and Bugibba, on the area. 

“When, three years ago, Moviment Graffitti descended onto Blue Lagoon with a direct action, we made a concrete demand: totally ban large tourist ferries from Comino.” the group said in a statement.  

In 2022 and 2023, activists from the NGO descended on the island in protest, removing deckchairs and umbrellas, calling out the rampant commercialisation, and coming head-to-head with operators and the police. 

Graffitti said the large ferries “ensnare” tourists and disembark them onto Blue Lagoon in their thousands every day. 

“Many of these tourists may not even have intended to visit the Blue Lagoon at all in the first place. Banning the operation of these vessels would have eliminated the need for a cap.” 

The group reiterated its concern that imposing a cap risked the island being taken over by commercial operators at the cost of residents wishing to travel to Comino. 

“It is also amply clear that the proposed cap will likely translate to business-as-usual for these large vessel operators, continuing to offload hundreds of tourists to Blue Lagoon three times a day, each with their impacts of waste generation, pollution, noise, and trampling.” 

The NGO once again called for a taxpayer-funded carrying capacity study carried out by the Environment and Resource Authority to be made available to the public. 

“The entirety of Comino is a nature reserve, but the government’s intentions do not seem to genuinely respect this since the cap they are proposing applies solely to the Blue Lagoon. Therefore, they are pushing tourist operators to increase their presence in other parts of the island at the detriment of the environment and of locals’ Comino experience. 

The threat to Comino’s environment, Graffitti said, was further compounded by the recent approval by the Planning Authority of the redevelopment of the Comino Hotel, which includes 140-beds and 16 bungalows. 

“Minister Ian Borg is selling our common heritage to business empires and taking the public for a ride,” the group said.