Where foreigners rule?

Photo: Jason Borg

Russians are deemed to be marriage breakers by long-established St Paul’s Bay residents, while Muslims are frowned upon for imposing their religion.

The British are “OK”, but the “boat people” had transformed the quaint fishermen’s village into “another Africa”, according to a study that zoomed in on the changing social fabric of St Paul’s Bay.

But it is not just foreign St Paul’s Bay residents, coming from some 100 different countries, who are considered “intruders”.

Maltese are not exactly welcomed with open arms – those who relocated there “tarnish” the village with their social problems, while those who move for the summer cause agonising parking problems for residents.

The community that has developed in St Paul’s Bay is probably the most complex in Malta and understanding it is even more so- Ċensu Galea

This emerged from the MA thesis of Ċensu Galea, Nationalist MP and former minister, who was born in St Paul’s Bay and has witnessed the village’s transformation into Malta’s fastest-growing cosmopolitan locality.

Dedicating his thesis to his family and newly born granddaughter – “who will be living in a totally different St Paul’s Bay from the one I was born in” – Mr Galea found that the community has changed beyond recognition in recent years, becoming the most complex on the island.

St Paul’s Bay – which includes Buġibba, Qawra, Xemxija, Burmarrad and Wardija – has in the space of six years seen its population increase by 50 per cent; up to nearly 21,000 from 13,412 from when the last census was carried out in 2005, right up to the last electoral register in April 2011.

The study, a mix of phone interviews, questionnaires and one-to-ones, focused on the way the locality developed and the impact this change has had on the community.

Tracing the area’s history, Mr Galea found that the population has been increasing consistently since 1967 when it shifted from a village dependent on agriculture and fisheries to one primarily connected with tourism.

Between 1967 and 2005, St Paul’s Bay grew from the third smallest village into the second largest locality in Malta. And, if nothing changes, Mr Galea is predicting St Paul’s Bay will soon become the largest.

Rampant construction of apartment blocks is one of the reasons behind this dramatic shift. With the reduction of prices – especially for properties “that can be described as average or below average, of which St Paul’s Bay has thousands” – more people, Maltese and foreign, are either buying or renting property in the area.

Apart from the 3,300 British residents registered, there are 1,701 non-Maltese, non-EU identity card holders residing in St Paul’s Bay coming from 100 countries. Of these, the majority are Chinese (186), Nigerians (148), Russians (130), and Moroccans (105).

This, Mr Galea said, had transformed St Paul’s Bay into a cosmopolitan area, where everyone was accepted, where people could live in anonymity, and where jobs – regulated or not – could be found directly in the hundreds of business outlets that pockmarked the seaside village.

Relatively cheap rental prices were among the main reasons for taking up residence in St Paul’s Bay.

“Those born in the village are protesting at the rapid change... Those whose ancestors lived in St Paul’s Bay believe foreigners and the Maltese who moved to the village have ruined the locality and the society... an unwanted intrusion,” he noted.

While St Paul’s Bay used to be considered one of the quieter parts of the island, Mr Galea discovered it has now become problematic. This was a place where offences took place regularly and where the locality’s identity has been swamped by those who “invaded” the area without contributing to its upkeep and people’s well-being.

While the rate of population increased rapidly, the level of integration was far behind and Mr Galea called on the local council and the government to make a serious attempt to ensure social integration took place.

From the telephone interviews he carried out, Mr Galea found that eight per cent of inhabitants did not see their residence as permanent and envisaged moving.

These unstable situations were caused either because they would not have paid their rent, they had escaped from a dangerous partner, or they were trying to relocate with a new partner.

Buġibba and Qawra represented the most cosmopolitan part of St Paul’s Bay with nearly 70 per cent of foreigners settling there, leading to a reality no one was prepared for.

Streets, such as Tourist Street, had 710 residents aged over 18 with 38 per cent of these being foreign. This summed up the “enormous change” that has taken place.

Tourist Street has already been singled out in a previous study by Caritas researcher Leonid McKay earlier this year, who described it as home to a multitude of social problems.

Mr Galea’s study found that the most visible groups to the naked eye were those coming from Africa and the former Soviet Union, whom people were against. In the case of Africans the racist attitude was palpable, while those from the former Soviet Union were either hated or sought after.

The tendency within the refugee community was one of segregation rather than integration. They also had their own African Bar, which Maltese residents considered to be dangerous.

When North Africans are mentioned residents brought up their clash of culture and religious belief and lamented on the way Muslims attempted to impose their way of life.

This perception was made worse when a residential flat was converted into a praying centre. Apart from this the Muslim community started to meet near the seafront under a public staircase, in the middle of a recreational area, for their weekly prayers fuelling antagonism.

“Russians” – an umbrella term used for all former Soviet Union residents and those coming from Eastern Europe – too were not looked upon kindly, and were seen as a source of many social and marital problems.

The conflict of culture and identity created by new residents was also reflected in what were perceived to be the bad elements of the community – the presence of 500 single mothers.

The in-depth interviews Mr Galea carried out with long-standing residents provided a dire situation of lost connections – they could not recognise, let alone know, the first name of those who lived in the same street; sometimes in the building next door.

There were no formal friendship groups, and no formal contact with the resident Maltese community that was, in itself, split between those who considered themselves righteous representatives of St Paul’s Bay after living there for years and those who had moved there from other towns.

“The community that has developed in St Paul’s Bay is probably the most complex in Malta and understanding it is even more complex. However, understanding it is crucial to halt social disintegration.”