Maltadaily.mt

Momentum Proposes Halving Comino Visitor Cap to 2,000 Visitors

Momentum Proposes Halving Comino Visitor Cap to 2,000 Visitors
Local

Partit Momentum has proposed reducing the visitor cap for Comino from 4,000 to 2,000 people per day, in a bid to better safeguard the island’s fragile ecosystem and address concerns over overtourism.

The party, which finished third in the last general election, also suggested that half of the available daily spots, around 1,000 permits, should be reserved exclusively for Maltese and Gozitan residents, ensuring local access to one of the country’s most popular natural attractions.

Momentum’s General Secretary, Mark Camilleri Gambin, argued that the current carrying capacity assessment underpinning the 4,000-visitor limit is insufficient to protect the island’s environment.

“If a carrying capacity study was carried out to devise the 4,000 cap, it is clearly flawed. We cannot allow our natural heritage to be degraded to the point where locals do not even dream of visiting Comino,” he said. “The next step is to halve this cap to ensure we protect our environment while guaranteeing that the people of Malta and Gozo are not pushed aside by mass tourism.”

The party described the proposal as a practical response to overtourism, pointing to other European destinations such as Venice, Sardinia, and Barcelona, where stricter visitor management systems and local priority schemes have been introduced to ease pressure from mass tourism.

Camilleri Gambin also outlined how such a system could be implemented in practice, suggesting that residents could log in using their eID to access a dedicated pool of free QR codes for entry to the Blue Lagoon area.

“Implementing this proposal on Comino is technically straightforward. Locals would simply log in with their eID into the Blue Lagoon access management system to unlock a resident-only pool of free QR codes,” he explained.

Momentum said the aim of the proposal is to strike a balance between sustaining tourism and protecting Malta’s natural heritage, while ensuring that local residents retain priority access to their own environment.

#MaltaDaily