Government refuses to address status of caravan village near site of proposed national park

Julian Delia - 21. April. 2026

After almost four decades of illegalities, the caravan village that occupies around half a kilometre of coastline in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq is now set to benefit from a national park project on its doorstep, with the government refusing to even address the matter.

The Office of the Prime Minister, the Environment Ministry, and the Lands Ministry – the three main authorities in charge of setting national policy, pushing forward national park projects, and all matters related to use of public land – all refused to respond to The Shift’s questions about the subject.

Specifically, we asked about whether the government plans to take action to either regularise the blatant illegalities on the site while ensuring it is restored to its original state, or whether a national park is going to be built less than 250 metres away from an illegal caravan village – effectively granting the dozens of squatters occupying prime coastal land the additional privilege of having a brand new public amenity around the corner.

In 2021, The Shift had reported how the caravan village had already become a permanent fixture all-year round, despite the site administrator’s own admission that the site is made available to what is formally known as the Safari Camping Club for use between 15 May and 15 September.

A site visit last week confirmed that the area not only continues to be occupied all-year round but also has developed rapidly into a fully fledged illegal settlement.

Valid concerns also arise when one considers how unsafe it is to build such a densely packed network of sheds, vehicles, and small cabins without any form of health and safety oversight.

The caravan village in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, as seen from the coastline. The nearest building in the White Rocks complex in the background is less than 250 metres away from the nearest caravan shed.

The site, which is being squatted year round by members of the so-called ‘Safari Camping Club’, greets visitors with a sign proudly celebrating 38 years of illegalities.

Since The Shift’s last visit to the site in 2021, some of the caravan sheds have now become full fledged cabins, with illegally installed electricity poles providing power to the entire village.

More extensively developed sheds, many of which include letterboxes and other telltale signs of permanent residency.

A close-up of what appears to be a makeshift bar called ‘The White Buffalo’.

Besides bearing house names and letterboxes, the site also contains clearly marked roads, further cementing its status as a permanent village.

At the very end of the caravan village lies a blocked pathway leading to the White Rocks complex in Pembroke, which is now set to become a national park following the government’s pledge to provide more open green spaces for the public.

In 2009, the Nationalist government had signed an agreement stipulating that the Safari Camping Club could use the site during summer months. That same agreement was tweaked slightly in 2013 for an annual fee of around €70,000 a year, according to the site administrator who had spoken to The Shift five years ago.

At the time, then-Lands Minister Silvio Schembri had refused to provide a copy of the agreement.

While the Prime Minister, Environment Minister Miriam Dalli, and Lands Minister Owen Bonnici refused to comment on the matter, the Planning Authority (PA) appears to have forgotten about the site’s existence entirely.

The only two enforcement notices available for the whole site date back to 2019 and 2006, with the PA triumphantly declaring that the cases were closed after the illegalities were removed.

Much like the PA’s phantom enforcement in Gżira and in Ta’ Qali, to mention just two recent examples, the authorities’ total disinterest in ensuring that the illegalities highlighted in this article are physically removed has allowed the abuse of public land to flourish unabated.

It remains to be seen whether there will be any attempts to regularise the de facto caravan village that has sprouted up in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq. An attempt to regularise an entirely illegal settlement in Xewkija is currently ongoing, for example, making the possibility of such an attempt likelier by setting a significant precedent in the case of an approval.