Barriers around the closed Comino Hotel and bungalows site have continued to advance, blocking off more public access on the island both from land and sea, according to Moviment Graffitti.

The pressure group described the situation as “more theft of public spaces” on the besieged island that should not be privatised.

The result is that the public can no longer enjoy San Niklaw Bay, where the hotel is located, awaiting permits for demolition and redevelopment, and the advancing gates continue to “swallow up” access to dust roads and coastal paths and caves.

The barriers state: “Private property no trespassing.” But Graffitti said it cannot understand how the owners decided that even the bay and the coast has become their private property.

“This is public domain,” it insisted.

The Comino Hotel and bungalows are the property of HV Hospitality Ltd, which has applied for planning permission for their redevelopment.

Pending permits, and in the interest of health and safety, the company has restricted public access to the sites, a spokesperson of HV Hospitality explained.

The spokesperson pointed out the company obtained legal title over the land on which the hotel is constructed – including the foreshore and the jetty in San Niklaw Bay – on acquisition of the property in 2019. 

“This land has been subject to private rights by virtue of public deeds that were entered into between the government and the hotel’s previous owners in 1975.”

An environmental impact assessment has now shown that the proposed 21 bungalows could be up for sale, pointing out the negative impact on the Natura 2000 site of an increased year-round population if they are privately owned.

Graffitti hoped Comino would remain the public’s, to be enjoyed in its natural state, and that it would “never be privatised, commercialised and changed into some tourist resort”.

Its complaints about the cordoned-off area surrounding the hotel and bungalows were made in light of the “theft of virtually every corner in Malta and Gozo”.

Both San Niklaw Bay and the beach are locked up.

The advancing of the gates was shedding a negative light on the project, PA/04777/20, which proposes the redevelopment of the existing 100-guestroom hotel in San Niklaw Bay, dating back to the 1960s, and the bungalows complex in Santa Marija Bay to 21 private units.

Miryan Sato Scott, a Maltese resident who frequents the island regularly has documented in detail the “consistent and progressive” advance of the building site.

“The reality is that every month, they are moving the fenced border to wider areas, slowly and silently” even though she maintains no danger, security issues and demolition justify this.

“The method is to first install a fence around the constructed area, and then after a few weeks, install another further out. The distance they have advanced in the last months is enormous,” Scott said.

Now, both San Niklaw Bay and beach are locked up, and the whole coastal road that connects this to Santa Marija Bay is under threat, she documented, using  Google Maps images and marking with red lines the locations of the different walls, metal fences and signs installed by the hotel owners.

Chronicling the moves, Scott said that a couple of years ago, Comino Hotel started blocking the coastal area access to San Niklaw beach. Then, the fence was moved 200 metres upwards, also blocking the secondary and side paths.

Scenic walks down to the rocks and the sea are now obstructed.

Scott, who was not born in Malta, but “loves it as my soul country”, has appealed for action, believing that soon “they will take the whole coastal path that connects Santa Marija Bay with San Niklaw Bay… and more”.