A 17th-century palazzo that once hosted Grand Masters and Maltese nobility could become Mdina’s next five-star hideaway, according to plans filed with the Planning Authority last week. The proposal, submitted by a consortium led by boutique-hotel specialist Corinthia, seeks to convert Palazzo Costanzo on Villegaignon Street into a 30-suite “ultra-luxury” property with rooftop infinity pool,…
**Spanish fintech giant Creditas swallows Malta’s MeDirect in quiet Sunday deal** Sliema’s seafront was still yawning itself awake on Sunday when the WhatsApp messages began to ping: MeDirect, the Maltese online bank that has graced local headlines since 2008, is being bought by Spain’s Creditas. By the time the kettle had boiled in Mosta and…
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones: What a NATO Skirmish Means for Malta’s Christmas Markets and Winter Fuel Bills Żabbar grandmother Maria Pace was ladling rabbit stew for her grandchildren when her phone pinged with a Reuters alert: “Poland scrambles F-16s after Russian drones enter airspace.” She looked up, half expecting to see contrails over the…
**Council Urges Urgent Repairs to Historic Aqueduct Arch After Traffic Collision** A call for swift action has been issued by local council officials after a traffic accident left a visible gash in one of Malta’s iconic 18th-century aqueduct arches, prompting fears that a key piece of the island’s architectural heritage could deteriorate further if left…
On a humid Thursday evening, the courtyard of Valletta’s old University building is buzzing—not with students cramming for exams, but with grandmothers, taxi drivers, tattooed artists and suited accountants balancing on plastic chairs. They are here for “Doing Democracy,” a monthly citizens’ forum that has quietly become Malta’s most influential political experiment since the 2011…
**No Entry Sign Put Up at Mġiebaħ Bay as Danger Looms Right on Top of Bathers** A beloved slice of Maltese paradise has been sealed off. Mġiebaħ Bay, the secluded pocket-beach tucked beneath Dingli’s cliffs and reachable only by a dusty farmer’s track, woke up on Thursday to a bright red “PERIKLU – NO ENTRY”…
**Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch Star in The Roses: A Cinematic Treat for Maltese Film Lovers** Malta’s cinema scene is set to sparkle as two of Britain’s most beloved acting powerhouses, Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch, reunite on screen in *The Roses*, a darkly comedic drama already generating Oscar buzz. While the film is not…
The story of Saint Carlo Acutis, God’s Gen Z influencer By Hot Malta staff | 14 min read Valletta’s 400-year-old parish church of St Dominic was unusually packed last Tuesday evening—not for a wedding or festa, but for a live-streamed Mass in honour of a 15-year-old boy who never set foot on the island. Teenagers…
“Pastizzi may be the death of us” By Luke Calleja, Hot Malta Valletta – The warning came from a cardiologist in Gżira, not a lifestyle blogger in Berlin, and that’s why everyone listened. “Pastizzi may be the death of us,” Dr. Miriam Azzopardi told listeners of Radju Malta’s morning phone-in last week, after new Health…
**Watch: Two Black Mondays, 90 years of chronicling Malta’s history** In the heart of Valletta, where limestone facades bear witness to centuries of Mediterranean drama, a remarkable cinematic journey is unfolding. “Two Black Mondays,” a documentary that premiered this week at the historic Embassy Cinema, doesn’t just recount Malta’s past—it resurrects it through the lens…
VALLETTA – When Polish radar screens flashed “intruder” at 04:47 on Sunday, the ripple was felt 1,600 km south in a Sliema flat where 23-year-old Polish ER nurse Zofia Kowalska was video-calling her mother in Kraków. “Mum said the windows shook,” Zofia told Hot Malta minutes after her shift at Mater Dei. “She asked if…
**‘Ban donations from big business’, Richard Cachia Caruana says** In a rare public intervention, veteran strategist Richard Cachia Caruana has called for an outright ban on corporate donations to Maltese political parties, warning that the island’s “kitchen-table democracy” is being quietly suffocated by board-room money. Speaking to students at the University of Malta’s Valletta campus…
