# Watch: The Fortina deal explained – how a Sliema landmark is being reborn and why every Maltese pensioner is talking about it Sliema’s skyline has always been a scrapbook of Malta’s last 150 years: Victorian townhouses, 1970s holiday flats, the odd glass shard from the 2000s. This week the Fortina Hotel – that terraced,…
**Cassola Questions Borg’s Denial: The Fortina Land Deal That Has Malta Talking** In the bustling heart of Sliema, where tourists sip cocktails overlooking the glittering Mediterranean and locals navigate narrow streets lined with traditional townhouses and modern developments, a land controversy has reignited debates about transparency in Malta’s rapid urban transformation. Arnold Cassola, the veteran…
**Alex Borg Demands Public Inquiry into Fortina Land Transfer Scandal** Nationalist Party MP Alex Borg has thrown a political grenade into the summer lull, demanding a full public inquiry into the controversial transfer of prime Fortina seafront land to a private developer. The call comes after fresh revelations that the 2019 deal, which handed over…
Shopping centre at db’s St George’s Bay project set to open in 2026 The cranes towering over St George’s Bay have become as familiar to locals as the limestone façades of nearby Spinola Palace, but yesterday’s announcement gave the skyline a new deadline: db Group’s long-debated mixed-use complex will welcome its first shoppers in the…
**Borg takes Opposition leader’s seat, demands debate on Fortina land transfer** In a dramatic parliamentary move that has set tongues wagging across the islands, newly-elected Opposition leader Bernard Grech found himself upstaged yesterday when independent MP Marlene Farrugia vacated her customary seat to make way for a surprise contender: Arnold Borg, the self-styled “voice of…
Top Lands official ‘suppressed’ valuation report, saving Fortina over €10m – and Sliema residents are furious By Hot Malta Staff Sliema’s skyline has always been a battleground between developers’ dreams and residents’ nightmares, but a fresh court filing suggests the latest round was decided in a back room, not a boardroom. According to a sworn…
# Watch: Grim Reaper protest greets MPs over controversial planning bills A cloaked figure wielding a scythe stood sentinel outside Malta’s Parliament on Tuesday morning, as activists channelled the island’s centuries-old festa spirit to deliver a chilling message: “Your time is up.” The macabre stunt—organised by environmental coalition Front Ħarsien ODZ—greeted MPs arriving to debate…
**Ten ODZ Villas Proposed Opposite Planned Large Xemxija Project** Xemxija Bay, the sleepy inlet whose honey-coloured ramparts have sheltered Roman grain stores, 17th-century fish farms and Sunday-morning bathers in equal measure, is bracing for a second development wave. Barely six months after the government issued a call for proposals to turn the neighbouring Mistra Valley…
# Christian spirituality: Challenging corporate hypocrisy in Malta On any given Sunday, the pews of Malta’s baroque churches fill with worshippers who, just 24 hours earlier, may have been closing sweetheart deals that push rents beyond the reach of ordinary families. The contradiction is not lost on the island’s younger clergy. “We bless boats named…
Local plan revision to ‘hopefully’ start in two years’ time – PA CEO The man who effectively writes Malta’s planning rule-book has admitted that the long-overdue overhaul of the island’s Local Plans will “hopefully” begin only in 2026 – a full 17 years after they were last updated and six years after government promised a…
Marsascala’s skyline has been dominated by the skeletal silhouette of the Jerma Palace Hotel since 2007, the year the five-star resort closed its doors for good. Once a by-word for 1980s glitz—think penthouse suites, a casino where tuxedos outnumbered T-shirts, and wedding receptions that spilled confetti onto the seafront promenade—the building is now a 12-storey…
Government caves to pressure, adds three more weeks to ‘Vision 2050’ consultation By Hot Malta Staff Valletta – After a week of parliamentary sparring and a 3,000-signature petition fronted by NGOs, the government has agreed to extend the public consultation on “Vision 2050 – Malta’s National Development Strategy” until 14 July, giving citizens an extra…
