Valletta restaurateur says xenophobic abuse made him question future in Malta

The owner of a Valletta restaurant said he briefly questioned his future in Malta after his business was targeted with a wave of xenophobic abuse over a light-hearted social media post on the recent power cuts.

The post, published by Zero Sei Trattoria Romana during the 30-hour blackout in Valletta, jokingly advertised a "Today's Special: Blackout", describing fridges "turning into a sauna" and stoves "gone dark".

However, after the post was shared widely online, it attracted dozens of hostile and xenophobic comments over several days telling owner Fausto Soldini to "go back to your own country" and blaming his business for overtourism. 

Contacted by Times of Malta, restaurant owner Fausto Soldini hit back at the comments, saying they should have been blocked. 

Soldini, who moved to Malta from Rome, opened Zero Sei Trattoria Romana in 2013. The business has since grown into the largest family-run company on the island, employing around 150 staff across its group of restaurants.

Soldini said the abuse included comments telling him to "go back to your own country" and blaming his business for contributing to overtourism. 

"We had to close, in stages, around seven restaurants, and send home around 60 staff members," he said, explaining that the blackout had a serious impact on their operations.

Soldini said the group had "suffered substantial losses" that had yet to be fully calculated. He added he had to throw away all the fish, and all the prepared dishes were packed up and given away.

He said several staff members had also endured power cuts at home overnight before returning to work, only to be sent home again.

"Not sleeping all night, then coming to work, only to go home again, is devastating."

In spite of the string of hateful comments, Soldini said the response from the wider public had been overwhelmingly positive.

"For every hostile message, we received ten messages of support," he said.

"That's the best part of this whole unpleasant affair. The solidarity shown by so many Maltese people. I really felt the warmth and affection of the Maltese people."

However, the episode has left Soldini briefly doubting his place in Malta. "For a moment, I wavered."

"I spent 24 hours thinking I'd got it all wrong, that I was surrounded by falsehood and hypocrisy."

However, he said the outpouring of support had restored his faith.

"Yesterday I had confirmation that Malta is still the Malta I love, the Malta that gave me the opportunity to become who we are today. I'd just like to say thank you to Malta and the Maltese people."

Earlier this week, Enemalta chairperson Ryan Fava said the authority had not anticipated the scale of the recent demand and heatwave, with consumption reaching a record 741MW.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Robert Abela called on Enemalta to "significantly accelerate" works to restore power, calling the outages "unacceptable". Last week he offered an "unconditional apology"