Moviment Graffitti activists cleared out deckchairs and umbrellas from Comino’s Blue Lagoon earlier on Saturday, the first time the beach has been this vacant in years.

The uptake of public land at Blue Lagoon has become a growing burden over the years, with at least seven kiosks popping up along the coastline, deckchairs and umbrellas illegally hogging space from as early as 7am, loud blaring music, and little to no upkeep of the bay itself.

Prior to Saturday’s action, Moviment Graffitti had already announced its six demands for Comino, which it reiterated again right after Blue Lagoon was cleared out – primarily, the group seeks to limit the uptake of public land for private gain and is intent on pressing the authorities to comply.

Kiosk operators and their employees offered little to no resistance, with some of them even lending a hand to the activists when the action began. The Shift documented the entire action on its Facebook page, with footage available here.

“Many Maltese and Gozitan people tell us that they don’t even bother coming to Comino because of the kiosks and the lack of space,” Moviment Graffitti activist Andre’ Callus told the press shortly after the action.

“It is not right that such a place is stolen from us. So, after we have been piling pressure and telling the authorities to take action and it wasn’t taken since we only heard empty words, we came here and took action ourselves. This doesn’t end here,” Callus added.

Activists holding up placards at Blue Lagoon, Comino.

Fellow activists John Paul Cauchi and Marie-Claire Gatt reiterated the group’s demands, emphasising the fact that Comino is a Natura 2000 site that should be protected.

Cauchi explained that the group is demanding that sunbeds and umbrellas should only be rented out on-request by persons physically present at the beach to ensure that operators do not hog the space before the first ferries even show up.

Moviment Graffitti is also calling on authorities to severely reduce the number of kiosks operating on Comino and that they must form part of an overall Comino Management Plan as had been originally proposed by the Environment and Resources Authority in 2019.

The group also believes that any commercial activity should be subject to permits which tightly regulate all operations, including disallowing the use of plastic straws and non reusable containers, banning loud music and generators as well as making operators pay a financial contribution for the upkeep of the bay.

Additionally, the activists urged the government to ensure that Comino is properly patrolled by rangers who would be legally empowered to levy fines and enforce regulations.