This year it looks like the invasion of the beach and kiosk furniture. Venture anywhere near the seaside and you’ll find sunloungers in a relentless march across the shore. Umbrellas are being staked across new territory as concession owners monopolise another bit of public land. Those cushioned sofas are used to secure the newly conquered areas, acting as the wicker-and-cushion version of barricades.

Then there’s the insidious use of planters hiving off even more land. I get the impression many of these are pushed forward another few centimetres each night in a land grab by stealth. At some point, a trellis or windbreaker will go up (can’t have gusts of wind blowing over our pre-packaged pizzas, can we?).

The next step will be a planning application for the temporary windbreaker to be replaced by a more permanent glass one. With this in hand, walls and a roof are the last act in this sorry story – the final victory of the beach-snatchers.

This privatisation of the beaches and promenades – because that’s exactly what it is – means that in a few years’ time, it will be nearly impossible to take a swim or go for a walk without having to pay for the privilege. It’s already the case at Għadira, where sunbeds and umbrellas have colonised the whole beach save for a little strip along the middle. Try to stroll along any promenade and you’ll have to slalom through a thicket of street furniture.

I suppose the authorities think that this is good for business. From what I can make out, for this administration anything that stops short of organ theft and brings in some cash has its implicit approval.

As long as it’s not downright illegal (and sometimes even if it is) and it means that somebody somewhere is making a buck, the authorities are going to turn a blind eye to the encroachment of our public areas.

This privatisation of the beaches means that in a few years’ time, it will be nearly impossible to take a swim without having to pay for the privilege

This would explain the utter uselessness of whoever is in charge of ensuring that Għadira is not submerged in beach concession umbrellas. Two years ago, a headline announced that there would be “More ‘free space’ at Għadira next year”. I wonder what became of that.

We laugh hollowly when we read the rest of the article, which says: “Beach management rules came into force five years ago, under which operators are allowed to set down a limited number of umbrellas and sunbeds on the beach even if they are not rented out. These must not be placed closer than three metres from the waterline.” Again, no evidence of any kind of enforcement in sight.

Operators will claim that there is a demand for beach furniture and amenities – one which they are satisfying. They insist that sun lovers don’t want to lug deckchairs and assorted paraphernalia to the beach and prefer renting them out.

While this may be true, it doesn’t explain why the loungers and umbrellas cannot be brought out on the client’s request instead of being dragged out en masse early in the morning.

As for the argument that this beach invasion is good for business, it’s not very sound. Till last year, the Malta Tourism Authority provided 19 licences to operators wanting to rent out umbrellas and deckchairs at or around bays in Malta and Gozo. They paid an annual licence fee of €116 for this. The grand total being contributed to the state coffers from this land grab is €2,204. Hardly near enough to offset the aggravation caused to people who don’t want to be coerced into renting out tatty sunloungers and the generally negative atmosphere of an impenetrable beach zone.

It’s not even close to covering the salaries of the staff required to enforce regulations (though I think we can safely say that the Labour government has completely done away with the polite fiction that it means to do anything about enforcement).

The only people profiting are the operators and – very minimally – the casual labourers who they employ (no doubt at princely wages).

In return, we get the obliteration of the foreshore by faded beach furniture and the obstruction of access to natural beauty spots. A country with limited space to roam and just be will soon become even more stifling and claustrophobic.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt