The number of fines given to catering establishments for setting up tables and chairs beyond their allotted area increased drastically but is still “nowhere near” enough.

Figures provided by the Malta Tourism Authority show that some 32 fines were issued this year to restaurants and cafes which had persisted in setting up tables and chairs where they shouldn’t.

Sliema Mayor Anthony Chircop said the number was an improvement, but still not enough. “The reality is that there are nearly that many abusers in the Sliema and St Julian’s area alone, never mind the whole island. This problem is widespread,” Mr Chircop said.

There are nearly that many abusers in Sliema and St Julian’s alone, never mind the whole island

Last year, this newspaper reported how just one restaurant had been found to be exceeding its allotted area, a number so low that it raised eyebrows among residents and councillors in commercial areas.

At the time, Mr Chircop said that the Sliema local council had been inundated with “continuous” complaints from residents unable to access pavements due to unauthorised tables. Pedestrians also complained they were unable to navigate pushchairs, wheelchairs and other equipment through rows of diners in squares and public spaces.

Asked if the situation had changed, Mr Chircop said it had only continued to deteriorate. The Sliema mayor also pointed to recent reforms that had created a one-stop shop for establishments looking to set up tables outside.

Mr Chircop was not the only mayor to criticise the apparent lack of enforcement last year. Marsascala mayor Mario Calleja said the seaside locality had long had a problem with restaurants encroaching on public spaces.

This, he said, was particularly evident when it came to Mifsud Bonnici Square, where restaurants had stretched so far beyond their allotted area that they had taken up some of the children’s playground.

“We literally have tables set up next to the public swings and slides for children.”

Mr Calleja said that over the years, he had exchanged significant correspondence with the authorities on various encroachments but had only seen sporadic action.

“When it rains, it pours. The authorities either do nothing or they take a truck and confiscate all the tables and chairs.” He felt a balance should be found instead.

St Paul’s Bay mayor Graziella Galea also weighed in, saying she had met with the MTA to discuss the problem numerous times, particularly in the popular tourist hotspot of Buġibba. “If proper inspections and enforcement are carried out over the whole locality, I am sure many more places will be found to be non-compliant or covering a bigger space than the one allocated to them,” she said.