Last year we gave you a comprehensive guide to where you can organise your barbecues and whether you need a permit and at what cost. Since then, a few localities havechanged regulations.
Marsaxlokk local council has passed a new by-law, whereby anyone organising a barbecue at Marsaxlokk, Delimara, Xrobb l-Għaġin, Kalanka and Il-Ħofriet has to apply for a permit. From one to 25 persons, the cost is €3, while a group of 26 to 50 has to pay €20. The fee keeps rising according to the number of attendees.
To hold a BBQ at Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, groups of over 10 people have to ask for a permit from Naxxar local council a month before the intended date of the BBQ. This time is needed to get the necessary approval from the police and the Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq Administration Committee. The cost is €7 without amplified music, otherwise it’s €11.65.
As regards St Paul’s Bay, Xemxija, Buġibba, Qawra and part of Mistra, the permit for groups of 10 and over has gone up from €3 to €7. One can get the required permit from St Paul’s Bay local council. Remember that barbecues are allowed in limited areas, that is places of no historical, archaeological or natural value and at least 50 metres from hotels, restaurants, bars and kiosks. Also, barbecues are not allowed at the Buġibba Perched Beach, Salina Park and Kennedy Grove.
Anyone organising a barbecue at Marsaxlokk, Delimara, Xrobb l-Għagin, Kalanka and Il-Ħofriet has to apply for a permit
The local councils of Sliema, Mġarr, Mellieħa, Marsascala, Birżebbuġa and the Gaia Foundation have kept the same regulations as last year. Here’s a short round-up.
There is no need for a permit at Sliema but wardens patrol the coast and may ask for ID cards for surveillance purposes and to deter people from littering.
For a group of more than 15 to organise a BBQ at Ġnejna Bay (sandy beach only), one needs a permit from Mġarr local council which costs €7, but a deposit of €20 is needed as a guarantee that the beach will be left clean and in its original state and that no inconvenience is caused. This deposit is refundable one week after the BBQ. If there is going to be music equipment, it should be low volume and switched off by 11pm. And tents and gazebos are not permitted.
The same conditions apply to Għajn Tuffieħa, but first one needs to get a permit from the Gaia Foundation, which have their own guidelines and might also ask for a deposit.
The Mellieħa local council has several beaches under its remit. Barbecues can be held – except on piers and pontoons – at Armier, Little Armier, Torri l-Abjad, Paradise Bay, Mistra (part of which falls under St Paul’s Bay local council) and Golden Bay (also known as Bajja tal-Mixquqa), but not at Mġiebaħ Bay and Għadira Bay, also known as Mellieħa Bay.
However, there is a designated area between the two sandy beaches forming the bay (Bajja l-Kbira and Bajja ż-Żgħira) where barbecues are allowed. For groups of 15 and over, the fee is of €10. A further permit is required for a sound system or generator.
Everyone is encouraged to apply for a permit at Marsascala, even a small group of people, but this comes at no cost. The aim is to prevent vandalism and littering. Thus the council provides applicants with litter bags. Barbecues are allowed all along the coast apart from Żonqor Point and the sandy beach and part of the concrete platform at St Thomas Bay.
In Birżebbuġa, there are only two areas designated for barbecues: one in Qajjenza, a little further down from San Luċjan Tower, and a strip of coast between the Boċċi Club (close to Pretty Bay) and the Freeport. No permit is required.