Hundreds of young people packed St George’s Bay on Friday night, despite public health restrictions forbidding gatherings in public of more than six people.
Times of Malta visited the popular St Julian’s beach between 12.50am and 1.30am between Friday night and Saturday morning and found revellers socialising in tightly packed groups along the beach.
Despite it being just a stone’s throw away from entertainment mecca Paceville, there was no police officer in sight. People talked, drank, danced and kissed with few concerns.
Police told Times of Malta they carried out a number of patrols that night. A large crowd at St George's Bay, a spokesperson said, was "instructed to disperse" and fines were issued. Inspections and patrols, the spokesperson insisted, were carried out daily by the police and other authorities.
Although virus cases are currently negligible, public health restrictions remain in place, enforceable by fines.
According to the law, groups of more than six people are forbidden from gathering in public and masks must be worn while outdoors.
Mask-wearing requirements do not apply to beachgoers, although it is not clear whether that exemption also applies to people socialising on beaches in the middle of the night.
From July 1, people who are fully vaccinated will not have to wear a mask outdoors, yet the measure will only come into effect if virus case numbers remain low. It will only apply if vaccinated people are outdoors alone or with another vaccinated person.
The scenes are reminiscent of similar ones reported at Exiles Beach in Sliema some weeks ago, when large crowds were seen socialising on the rocky beach.
A police spokesperson had at the time said that officers accompanied by Malta Tourism Authority enforcement agents had found that people were “in groups of 4 and not in breach of COVID-19 regulations”.
One week later, around 50 police officers were dispatched to patrols to the area to stop major influxes of people, with a superintendent saying a "substantial" number of fines were issued.
The St George's Bay scenes are likely to anger event organisers, who say their sector is being penalised with unfairly tough restrictions while other sectors are given leeway.
'Virus does not distinguish between crowds' - MEIA
A spokesperson for the Malta Entertainment Industry Association said that the illegal activity is a reflection that there is a "loss of control" of the situation.
“It saddens me that our industry has been demonised so much during this pandemic, and that we have been discriminated in comparison to other industries. The virus does not distinguish between crowds.”
He said that authorities should focus on providing reasonable measures for professionals in the industry to operate is the only logical course of action.
“Fifteen months of the pandemic and three waves of infected cases all happened whilst our industry was shut. Our proposals are reasonable and for the good of the country to try and counteract these illegal activities where no measures are followed whatsoever.”
Frustrated artists will be holding a protest against the current COVID-19 restrictions, which they claim are discriminatory. The demonstration themed Daqshekk Siekta (Silent no more) on June 24 in St. George’s Square Valletta at 7pm.