NGOs are calling on the government to curb excessive commercial activity at the Blue Lagoon and address the current unsustainable situation on Comino.

Intense commercial activity linked to mass tourism is leading to the rapid environmental degradation of the Natura 2000 site while hindering the public’s enjoyment of the unique reserve, they are claiming.

The call follows comments by the Tourism Minister that fewer deckchairs around the Blue Lagoon “automatically” led to fewer people visiting the island. 

Clayton Bartolo said that the effects of fewer deckchairs need to be considered before any study on Comino’s carrying capacity.

Earlier this year, Bartolo had said the Blue Lagoon would be seeing 65 per cent fewer sunbeds and umbrellas throughout summer.

In summer of 2022, activists and NGOs descended multiple times on the island, calling for the ban of commercial sightseeing boats carrying tourists to Comino and urging for fewer deckchairs at the public beach.

On Friday, the activists called out the government for "steadfastly refusing" to publish the results of a carrying capacity study commissioned by the Environment and Resources Authority.

Bartolo's recent comments indicate that "he does not understand what a carrying capacity study is. Since the island’s management plan was published, the daily number of visitors to the Blue Lagoon has increased, not decreased - from 5,000 a day in 2016 to a staggering 8,000 a day this summer," the activists said in a statement.

At the same time, the number of kiosks at the lagoon, and vessels berthing at the island shot up in recent years, they claimed.

They insisted that relocating a deckchair operator to an area not previously exploited for this purpose was unacceptable and could not be in line with Comino’s management plan as a Natura 2000 site.

"ERA and Environment Minister Miriam Dalli have remained shamefully silent regarding such failures on their watch," they added.

The activists' demands:

• Ban large boats carrying hundreds of tourists to Comino
• Drastically reduce the number and size of kiosks
• Abolish all music from kiosks, boats and loud generators
• Control all commercial activity around the Blue Lagoon to operate on the basis of permits, with strict rules regarding permitted activities and waste management

The NGOs are BirdLife Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth Malta, Għawdix, Moviment Graffitti, Nature Trust Malta – FEE and Ramblers Association Malta.