How this page works
Malta has 54 local councils, Gozo has 14, and Comino is formally part of Għajnsielem. Every one is listed below. Hotspots with documented planning pressure, STR saturation or heritage loss get a short factual note; localities without an on-record dispute carry a neutral placeholder and an invitation for residents to report.
Malta
Malta's 54 local councils, with Valletta first and the rest in alphabetical order.
Valletta (Il-Belt)
Crisis: The capital has been under sustained pressure from short-term-let saturation, the conversion of family homes into boutique hotels and the long-term leasing of public buildings - the Strait Street and St Elmo Granaries concessions among them. Residents' groups such as ResidentiBeltin have repeatedly called for caps on tourist accommodation and protected residential-only zones.
Attard
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Balzan
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Birgu (Vittoriosa)
Crisis: Birgu (Vittoriosa) has seen rapid conversion of historic townhouses into boutique hotels and short-term lets, straining the residential character of one of Malta's most historic localities.
Birkirkara
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Birżebbuġa
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Cospicua (Bormla)
Crisis: Bormla has been the site of regeneration tensions - the American University of Malta's Dock 1 plans, the conversion of dockyard and dockside buildings, and the question of who benefits from the Three Cities' re-imagining.
Dingli
Crisis: Dingli residents, supported by Moviment Graffitti and Ramblers, mobilised against the proposed development of a field at Ta' Bristol - a dispute that became a reference case for ODZ protection.
Fgura
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Floriana
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Għargħur
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Għaxaq
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Gudja
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Gżira
Crisis: Gżira hosts the Manoel Island concession, reclaimed in 2024 after a 29,000-signature petition forced a re-examination of the lease to Midi plc. The locality also faces tower applications along the seafront and traffic spillover from Ta' Xbiex and St Julian's.
Ħamrun
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Iklin
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Kalkara
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Kirkop
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Lija
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Luqa
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Marsa
Crisis: Marsa carries Malta's heaviest mix of industrial emissions, heavy traffic, waste management sites and informal migrant housing - a combination long flagged by residents and public-health voices.
Marsaskala
Crisis: Marsaskala has been the subject of the contested yacht-marina proposal in the bay, a ferry-terminal plan, and the loss of public open space at Żonqor. MRN (Marsaskala Residents Network) has led the legal and community response.
Marsaxlokk
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Mdina
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Mellieħa
Crisis: Mellieħa residents have fought the 109-unit Mellieħa Heights apartment block, the ITS-DB Qortin / Żnuber land transfer (now before the Auditor General) and repeated encroachments on Mellieħa square. The Local Council has lodged multiple appeals.
Mġarr
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Mosta
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Mqabba
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Msida
Crisis: Msida creek and its approaches carry the weight of university commuter traffic, tower blocks replacing low-rise terraces, and the loss of open space that Kamra tal-Periti's 20,000 sqm Msida Park proposal sought to address.
Mtarfa
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Naxxar
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Paola (Raħal Ġdid)
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Pembroke
Crisis: Pembroke faces the db Group ITS project on the St Julian's boundary - a towers-and-mall development whose height, shading and traffic impact the Local Council and residents have contested through the courts.
Pietà
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Qormi
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Qrendi
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Rabat (Malta)
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Safi
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
St Julian's (San Ġiljan)
Crisis: St Julian's carries the pressure of Paceville's nightlife economy, tower proposals (including db Group's former ITS site at the Pembroke boundary), and persistent traffic, noise and waste issues that spill into residential streets around Balluta and Spinola.
St Paul's Bay (San Pawl il-Baħar)
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
San Ġwann
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Santa Luċija
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Santa Venera
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Senglea (L-Isla)
Crisis: L-Isla has faced conversion of family homes to boutique accommodation and questions over the use of publicly-owned sites along the waterfront.
Siġġiewi
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Sliema (Tas-Sliema)
Crisis: Tas-Sliema has the country's highest STR density, multiple hotel-tower applications along Tignè and Fond Għadir, and recurring disputes over public access to the foreshore and pavements. The FAA-led Il-Bankini taċ-Ċittadini coalition and the Sliema Residents' Association have called for a formal carrying-capacity study of the locality.
Swieqi
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Ta' Xbiex
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Tarxien
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Xgħajra
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Żabbar
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Żebbuġ (Malta)
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Żejtun
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Żurrieq
Crisis: Żurrieq farmers, backed by residents and environmental NGOs, are fighting the proposed development of agricultural land off Triq Xarolla - a case that drew thousands of objections and a Lands Authority review in 2025.
Gozo
Gozo's 14 local councils, with Victoria (Ir-Rabat, the capital of Gozo) first.
Victoria (Ir-Rabat)
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Fontana
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Għajnsielem
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Għarb
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Għasri
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Kerċem
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Munxar
Crisis: Munxar and its dependency Xlendi have faced heavy tourism-driven construction, loss of sea views, and concerns over the capacity of the valley and bay.
Nadur
Crisis: Nadur residents have objected to development applications around Ramla l-Ħamra and to loss of agricultural land in the hamlet's outer zones.
Qala
Crisis: Qala residents have fought the recurring Ħondoq ir-Rummien development - a yacht marina and tourism complex on a protected bay - for over two decades; the case has been rejected at tribunal and court level but continues to resurface.
San Lawrenz
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Sannat
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Xagħra
Crisis: Xagħra in Gozo has seen objections to high-density apartment blocks in the village core and to development pressure on fields adjacent to Calypso's Cave.
Xewkija
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Żebbuġ (Gozo)
Crisis: No major planning dispute currently on record for this locality. Residents with evidence of planning impact, STR pressure or heritage concerns are invited to report - this page will be updated as cases are documented.
Comino
Comino is formally part of Għajnsielem but is listed separately because of its distinct planning, tourism-pressure and conservation profile.
Comino (Kemmuna)
Crisis: Comino is formally under Għajnsielem, but the island has become the national case study of carrying-capacity failure: sunbed and deckchair sprawl at the Blue Lagoon, illegal kiosks, and BirdLife / Moviment Graffitti court action that has forced partial clearance of the foreshore.