According to activists, a famous Instagram island known as the most beautiful Mediterranean is now a nightmare of rat infestation, “similar to a forgotten country.”
Worldwide, the Comino Island of Malta is notorious because of its beautiful light blue waters and its famous limestone bay are known as the Blue Lagoon.
The popularity of idyllic island is supported by social media influencers flocking to get the perfect photos and make appearances in popular Hollywood movies like Troy.
However, although Malta’s Tourism Board is described as “the most beautiful place in the Mediterranean”, Comino is now shocked by the exaggerated journey.
In the summer, vessels that can accommodate up to 10,000 tourists a day are driven out and then stuffed into the crowded bay.
The makeshift bar plays loud music around guests serving alcoholic beverages and snacks, then leaves it as garbage, providing a simple source of food for the rat population that radiates the rats.
Malta campaigners are now fighting to protect Comino, a protection considered a protected nature reserve and bird shelter from future destruction.
One group is Moviment Graffitti, a civil society organization, who are making radical changes to the way the island is managed.
A large number of tourists from the Blue Lagoon. Despite being described by the Malta Tourism Authority as “the most beautiful place in the Mediterranean”, Comino is now destroyed by an exaggerated journey
Pastoral Island’s popularity is supported by social media influencers
A mouse found on Comino. The rubbish left by thousands of tourists visiting the island every day leads to rats and balloons
In 2022, they held a huge protest, forcibly removing sun loungers and parasols.
Members of Andre Callus’s group described the current situation as “unbearable.”
“It was a nightmare for the people in Gozo and Malta, and they weren’t going there anymore. Comino has been replaced by a strong commercial interest. It’s a small place, but there are 11 kiosks selling food and drinks. They want to extract as much profit as possible from the island. Daily Telegram.
Malta NGOs claim that Malta authorities have conducted a number of studies on tourists the island can support, but many locals have clearly seen the damage of supertourism.
Residents wrote to newspapers from the island country, blowing up the state of Comino.
One said the famous Blue Lagoon now looks like “some shabby slums in some forgotten countries.”
Another wrote: “This once beautiful island has become a circus and if you pay me I will not get closer to it.”
The Malta government is trying to strike a delicate balance between protecting Comino’s natural beauty and supporting Malta’s tourism industry – 15% of the country’s GDP
In the summer, a vessel with up to 10,000 tourists is driven out every day and then squeezed into the crowded bay
One campaigner describes the number of visitors currently allowed to visit Comino as “unbearable”
Tourism Minister Ian Borg proposed reducing the number of daily visitors allowed to visit the island to 10,000 to 5,000.
To enforce this law, the government will need to check with commercial ship operators to see how many passengers they carry and how many trips they do per day.
Mr. Borg also promised to review the number of bars that allow operation and installation of public toilets.
However, campaigners like Birds Malta want Comino’s status as a nature reserve, being respected every day by trash removal and tourists hats.
Comino symbolizes a wider problem, and tourism caused Malta is an island country, which had a population of more than 500,000 people last year with more than 500,000 tourists.
To accommodate tourists, huge coastal developments have been approved, which activists claim makes Malta’s environment irreversible.
Mark Sultana, CEO of Malta Birds, hopes that the status of the Blue Lagoon is a wake-up call for politicians and developers.
“The cow has been crowded for a long time,” he said.