Malta Warnings and Dangers

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I am a smoker and I make no apology for it. I realise it is not good for my health and so on and I also realise that my country's economy would be in an even more parlous state if it were not for the punitive taxes imposed upon us by the Government. Allow me to explain the situation regarding smoking in public places in Malta.

I was interested to find out that Malta was the second place in Europe to introduce a smoking ban, a mere week after the government in Republic of Ireland had imposed similar restrictions upon it's citizens. So smoking in public places is against the law but what are the realities?

Smoking outside is permitted and most bars / cafes etc. have semi-covered areas. This is, after all, Southern Europe where the cafe society is King. I have seen a thing here in Malta that the British Government and anti-smoking lobby in UK would not have the decency to consider, that of the "legal smoking room". Admittedly, they are not common but they do exist. They are fully enclosed rooms where smoking is permitted. I do not know what the legal requirements are for having such a room but if, like me, you visit in months where the weather is less than brilliant you may want to look out for them.

As for enforcement, well that is another thing. Some places, late at night with only a few locals in, will break out the ashtrays or even just tell you to stub your butts out on the floor. I have even been in small locals bars where they just totally ignore the ban completely and carry on as they have done for years. I have yet to see any police checking on it.

You should be aware though that if the police do come calling, not only is the premises owner liable to a fine but you are also liable to a personal fine for smoking. As always I have tried to present the facts accurately here so the decision as to whether you light up or not, even if everyone else is doing so, is up to you.

Whilst out walking shortly after arriving in Malta, I came upon the sign pictured by the beach in Sliema. In truth, it would have been a fairly hardy person who would have been sunbathing at all on what was a fairly raw February day but I thought I would share this with VT readers for when the glorious summer comes around. Basically, topless / nude bathing and sunbathing is not allowed in Malta so do not get caught out and risk a court case and potential fine by doing it.

A quote from the Justice Ministry, taken from the attached website suggests that there may be a slight decriminilisation of the matter as in not being taken to Court but being dealt with by a local tribunal in the same manner as for minor traffic offences etc. However, you should be aware of the current law. You have been warned and the decision is now up to you.

Here is the quote,

"Maltese law does not allow nudism in public places and beaches are considered public places.” The arraignments of tourists in Malta were normally treated quickly. This was to ensure that they could return home on their pre-booked flights, with no extra costs incurred, a ministry spokesman said. When asked if there are any plans to introduce spot fines to replace court cases for such incidents, the spokesman said the government was in the process of reviewing all possible offences and some might eventually be “decriminalised”. “Once this happens, these offences will no longer be dealt with by the criminal courts but by regional tribunals, as is already the case for traffic and certain environmental offences. “Individuals accused of such offences will also be able to settle fines electronically, by post or at one of the local councils’ offices.”

I am not sure if this is exactly the correct section to put this in but I cannot really think of anywhere else to put it. I suppose it is a warning to those of you used to the standard European two pin electrical plug.

Undoubtedly as a result of the long period of British influence on the island, the M use a three pin square 13 amp electrical plug which I use in the UK but have not seen elsewhere. The plug is as shown in the image. If you are coming from just about anywhere else in the world, you will need an adaptor and / or transformer. I am certainly no electrician but I am told that the supply here can fry your delicate appliances like computers fairly well if you do not have the appropriate equipment.

Hopefully, the attached website should assist.

Malta is a very safe place with minimal levels of crime. Fist fights make headline news on this small island. Most of the trouble probably comes from tourists, who unlike the Maltese can be unpredictable and often drunk (but usually happy and harmless). Areas heavy with bars and clubs, like the Paceville area of St. Julian's, have a bad reputation and could be problematic at night.

The traffic in and around Valletta is pretty bad at all times of the day, but at rush hour you can expect your bus journey to take much longer, sometimes twice as long. Sometimes I was stuck on a bus and overtaken by pensioners and people with pushchairs.

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I thought being a Catholic country, and a fairly religious one (it's the most religious country in the EU) that everything would shut down over Christmas. But I was wrong. In fact it was very busy shopping day the Sunday before Christmas, and Christmas Eve the shops opened later rather than closing early. On Christmas Day it seemed most important services were still running, including the ferry to Gozo, but the early part of the afternoon was quiet time for workers to be with their families. I was still able to hire a driver to take me to the airport, and of course the airport was running as normal except for all the shops there being shut.

The Maltese are very kind towards children, especially the smallest ones. We would constantly have strangers entertaining our son, even teenagers on the bus. He was rarely bored. Our son attracted a lot of attention, and it was always welcome. People were very helpful when they saw us struggling, and the restaurants all had baby chairs and the staff paid a lot of attention to him.

Getting around can be a bit of a challenge though. Pushing a baby carriage up the steep hills is exhausting, and jumping onto a bus to take a rest isn't so easy either. It's improved now they have the modern buses, but often the bus driver won't open the easy access doors at the back unless you ask him. Getting on the bus is a scrum where all the Maltese kindness disappears. There's limited space to put a pushchair on the bus, and these spaces are prioritized for disabled people. We had to give up the spot twice on one trip to Marsaxlokk, on the way there, and on the way back. Our son was not happy to sit in my lap for an hour.

Pavements are generally pretty good, but the traffic is quite dangerous. Drivers don't often stop at zebra crossings even when they see you are with a push chair. Often I had to move out a little into the road to get them to pay attention and stop, and even then I risked having some idiot overtake the stopped car and hit me. The bus drivers are also often reckless and act like they are competing in a Formula One race, which is both bad when you are on the street and inside desperately trying to stop your child flying down the corridor.

The Maltese are friendly, helpful people when you meet them in the street, but they are pretty horrible behind the wheel of a car. Don't assume they will stop for you at a Zebra crossing because quite often they won't. On the few occasions that someone did stop, more than once the person behind overtook them aggressively and nearly ran me over. And I had a child in a pushchair!

It won't help either if you aren't used to British style left-hand driving.