Fortina fire-sale fury: Minister stands by CEO as Malta fears losing its sea

**Watch: Lands minister backs CEO amid Fortina land valuation controversy**

Lands Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi has thrown his weight behind the Lands Authority CEO Robert Vella, insisting Vella “enjoys my full confidence” despite a mushrooming public outcry over the €1.9 million valuation placed on a prime 3,000-square-metre tract of seabed opposite the Fortina Hotel in Sliema.

The minister’s declaration, delivered in a terse parliamentary reply late Monday, came hours after a tense press conference in which NGOs, local residents and heritage watchdogs demanded the resignation of both Vella and the valuation’s author, private surveyor Mark Agius. Critics say the price tag—equivalent to just €633 per square metre—amounts to a fire-sale giveaway of one of the last undeveloped pockets of Tigné seafront, an area where open-market parcels routinely fetch above €5,000 per m².

Footage circulating on social media shows activists unfurling a banner that reads “Malta mhux għall-bejgħ” (“Malta is not for sale”) from a kayak flotilla that ring-fenced the site on Sunday, while swimmers and paddle-boarders formed a human chain to symbolise the coastline they fear is being carved up in back-room deals. The clip has racked up 200,000 views in 48 hours, propelling #HandsOffFortina to the top of Maltese Twitter trends and prompting a flood of memes superimposing luxury yachts on the rocky shoreline under the caption “Coming soon, only €1.90”.

**Cultural flashpoint**

For many Sliema residents, the Fortina seabed is more than a line item on a government ledger; it is the backdrop to childhood summers, evening strolls and the feast-day procession of Stella Maris whose statue is ceremonially ferried across the bay each August. “My grandfather taught me to fish right here,” says 68-year-old pensioner Tarcisio Borg, gesturing toward the crystalline inlet known locally as ix-Xatt ta’ Tigné. “Now they want to turn it into a private marina so that a few millionaires can park their toys. Where does it stop?”

The controversy also strikes a nerve because the Fortina peninsula has already morphed beyond recognition in two decades of break-neck development. Art-Nouveau villas gave way to glass towers; the old Balluta bus terminus is now a sushi bar; and the iconic 19th-century Fortina bastions are dwarfed by a hotel spa cantilevering over the water. Each new project chips away at the collective memory of a town that once lived with, not on, the sea.

**Minister digs in**

Questioned by opposition MP Stanley Zammit, Minister Zrinzo Azzopardi defended the valuation as “expert-led and procedurally sound”, arguing that the sum reflects the cost of reclaiming seabed rather than market comparables. He revealed that the Lands Board will meet next week to decide whether to approve a 65-year emphyteusis in favour of Fortina’s owners, who envision a 140-berth yacht marina and waterfront retail complex promising 200 jobs.

Yet the minister’s stance has failed to quell disquiet inside his own party. One Labour back-bencher, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Hot Malta that constituents are “furious at the optics” weeks after the Prime Minister pledged “zero tolerance for corruption” in his New Year message. “People are asking why a public asset is being priced like a car-boot bargain,” the MP said.

**Community gears up**

Activists have called a national protest for Saturday at 10 a.m., assembling at the Sliema ferries and marching to Parliament. Expect drums, fishermen’s horns and a flotilla of brightly painted luzzus symbolic of Malta’s maritime soul. Meanwhile, the NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa has filed a judicial protest demanding full disclosure of the valuation methodology, and the Chamber of Architects has warned that any reclamation could breach the EU’s Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.

Hotel management, for its part, insists the marina will “democratise access” by creating a public promenade and pledges to install eco-friendly wave breakers. But sceptics note similar promises were made for the St George’s Bay development, where the “public” walkway is routinely gated for private events.

**Conclusion**

Whether the Fortina seabod becomes a yacht basin or remains a shared swimming spot is now a litmus test of how Malta balances private profit with public patrimony. With an election looming and summer temperatures—both meteorological and political—rising, the government may discover that a €1.9 million price tag carries a cost no spreadsheet can capture: the trust of a shoreline community that feels the sea is slipping through its fingers.