Ghadira kiosks pay just €3,000 a year through a pre-2013 deal

Kiosk operators at Għadira Bay, Malta’s largest sandy beach, are paying just €3,000 a year for their encroachment permits under a 15-year agreement struck weeks before the 2013 general elections held under a PN administration.

The kiosks, which sell food and beverages and provide deckchairs and umbrellas to thousands of beachgoers every summer, generate hundreds of thousands of euro in turnover during the peak season.

Yet research by The Shift shows that seven kiosk owners were granted 15-year agreements in late 2012 and early 2013 at a fixed annual rate of €3,000. They were also required to provide a bank guarantee of just €3,500 per year.

The issue resurfaced this week during a parliamentary committee meeting, when Tourism Minister Ian Borg rebutted Opposition claims that the government is favouring certain operators and businessmen, including those owning the illegal kiosks at Comino’s Blue Lagoon, many of whom are considered close to the Labour Party.

Insisting that the government has a plan to regulate and reform operations at Comino, Borg turned his fire on his predecessor, Mario de Marco, accusing him of granting Ghadira kiosk owners a “direct order” deal without issuing public tenders.

According to Borg, the agreement also included a right of first refusal, meaning that when the encroachment period expires, the same operators would retain the right to match any new offers, even if a tender is issued.

“This was a 15-year agreement at €3,000 a year,” Borg said, arguing that criticism directed at the current administration over Comino should be viewed in the context of decisions taken under previous governments.

Most of the Għadira kiosks have operated in dubious circumstances for decades, with successive administrations renewing their encroachment permits annually. No public tenders were ever issued for the beach concessions, and several of the operators originally occupied public land illegally before ‘regularisation’.

Contacted by The Shift, former PN Tourism Minister De Marco rejected suggestions that this agreement was somehow linked to the 2013 elections.

He said the move was part of a Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) scheme to upgrade the tourism product.

“For many years, the kiosks that had licences and encroachment permits to operate at Għadira functioned out of containers, aluminium sheds and other structures that did not match the MTA’s vision for an improved product,” de Marco said.

He explained that the MTA had prepared new kiosk designs more in line with its tourism strategy and that, under Lands Department policy at the time, operators who invested in upgrading their structures could be granted a fixed-term lease to incentivise that investment.

“Kiosks in Sliema and the Chalet area, and others benefitted from such leases. This is what happened in Għadira,” he said.

The controversy comes amid ongoing scrutiny of beach concessions, kiosk encroachments, and the illegal occupation of public land across the island.

At Comino’s Blue Lagoon, where operators have for years occupied public land with kiosks, sunbeds and umbrellas without fully regularised permits, the government had promised reform as of this summer.

However, The Shift has revealed that the overhaul has been postponed by at least a year, as the Malta Tourism Authority is still awaiting a Planning Authority permit for a proposed revamp of the entire area.

The delay has been interpreted as a manoeuvre to avoid rocking the boat in what is expected to be an election year, once again placing political expediency ahead of decisive action on the commercialisation of public land.