Gozo’s €22 Million Aquatic Complex Opens: Island Finally Gets Olympic-Size Pool After 15-Year Wait

# After 15 Years of Promises, Gozo’s Olympic-Size Pool Makes a Splash

**Victoria, Gozo** – The air on Triq it-Tuffiera smelled of chlorine and celebration this morning as Prime Minister Robert Abela cut a ribbon made from recycled fishing nets and declared the €22 million Gozo Aquatic Complex officially open. Teenagers who had learned to swim in the choppy inlet at Xlendi queued in their hundreds to be the first to dive into the 50-metre Olympic pool; toddlers clutched rubber ducks for the 20 cm splash pad; and elderly Gozitans, many leaning on carved cane sticks, watched from shaded bleachers as their island finally joined the deep end of Mediterranean sport.

“Fifteen years we waited,” said 68-year-old L-Għawdxi veteran Joe Portelli, who coached water-polo in a sea-cage off Mġarr ix-Xini throughout the 1980s. “My son trained in Malta, my grandson trained in Malta—now my granddaughter can train at home.” His voice cracked as the national anthem echoed off the limestone walls, the same honey-coloured stone that built the Citadel towering above.

## From Blueprint to Blue Water

The road from political pledge to poolside paradise was bumpier than the Gozo Channel ferry in a January gale. First announced in 2008, the project survived four different administrations, two EU funding cycles and one pandemic. Original plans for a simple 25-metre basin ballooned into a three-zone complex: a 10-lane competition pool with moveable floor, a leisure lagoon complete with lazy river, and a hydrotherapy centre linked to the nearby general hospital. A roof of 1,024 photovoltaic panels—one for each year since the Arab raid on Gozo of 870 AD—will power heat pumps that keep the water at a balmy 27 °C year-round.

Culture Minister Owen Bonnici, fresh from inaugurating MUŻA’s latest contemporary wing, called the complex “the final piece in Gozo’s cultural renaissance”. He pointed to the tessellated floor mosaic inspired by the Xagħra Stone Circle spirals and changing-room doors painted in the traditional *bajda u samra* (white-and-ochre) palette. Even the café serves *ħobż biż-żejt* shaped like water-wings.

## Economic Ripple Effect

Hoteliers are already reporting a 35 % spike in October bookings since trial swims began in August. “We’ve coined the phrase ‘Swim-cation’,” laughed Maria Farrugia, manager of the boutique hotel Ta’ Cenc. “Guests do dawn laps, then hike to the Salt Pans for sunset.” Gozo Channel has added two extra cargo runs weekly to ferry lane ropes, starting blocks and 28,000 litres of pool chemicals. Meanwhile, 120 new jobs—lifeguards, physiotherapists, baristas—have been created, slashing Gozo’s youth unemployment rate to its lowest since records began.

Local businesses feel the tide turning. *Tal-Lapsi* water-polo club sold 400 replica caps in one afternoon; the Victoria crafts market can’t keep up with demand for crocheted swim-bags in Gozo’s unofficial colours of magenta and green. Even the island’s lone tattoo artist, Ink & Ġbejna, reports a 50 % surge in requests for tiny swimming turtles.

## Community Currents

Perhaps the biggest splash is social. Swimming lessons for over-60s run alongside *bocci* league nights, while teenagers from Xewkija and Sannat who once met only on the football pitch now race relay relays together. A women-only session on Fridays, introduced after consultations with local priests, has become a safe space where nuns from the Franciscan cloister swim breaststroke next to hijabi students from the Islamic centre.

Yet challenges remain. Entrance fees—€3.50 for Gozitans, €7 for visitors—are steep for pensioners, though a *kartell* scheme sponsored by Bank of Valletta offers 20 free swims to holders of the 60+ card. Environmentalists warn that increased traffic could strain the narrow roads; Transport Malta counters with a new electric shuttle from Mġarr harbour every 30 minutes.

As the sun set behind the Citadel, casting a golden glow across the turquoise water, 11-year-old Kaylee Xu—whose Maltese mother and Chinese father run a Dingli street-food truck—touched the electronic timing pad in 32.14 seconds, a new personal best. “I want to be Gozo’s first Olympic swimmer,” she grinned, teeth chattering with adrenaline and 27-degree water. Around her, grandparents cheered, coaches timed, and the island that has always defined itself by the sea finally learned it could also swim in it.

The Gozo Aquatic Complex is open Monday to Sunday, 06:00–22:00. Book lanes online or risk waiting with the *luzzu* fishermen at the door.