Umbrella wars

Għadira’s popular beach was immortalised in New Cuorey’s folk song Il-Bajja tal-Mellieħa, which extolled its natural beauty, the blue sea and surrounding green fields. But the song released in 1973 made no reference to the umbrellas and sun beds put up by private operators that over the years gobbled up space on the sandy beach. Sammy Bartolo, the Mellieħa-born songwriter, may be forgiven for the oversight because 40 years ago the proliferation of umbrellas by kiosk and lido operators had only just started. Over the years the sandy beach shrunk, the number of beachgoers increased and a tussle for space ensued. Bartolo might have written a different song today. And as complaints soared every summer, restoring order at Malta’s largest beach became a priority for the Malta Tourism Authority. A plan was hatched last year and although it started being implemented, the results failed to impress. Bad habits die hard and when Gavin Gulia was appointed chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority three months ago, Għadira was one of the first problems on his agenda. What appeared to be a straightforward delineation of space on paper was a complicated exercise of coordination between different...