I have sadly felt the need to write on previous occasions about the blatant discrimination openly practised by some market traders.

This morning, I approached one of the traders and asked for the price of avocado pears. His reply: €1 each. My British wife, who was standing right next to me, asked for two. On realising that she was a foreigner, the trader soon upped the price to €1.25 each and my wife was, of course, utterly disgusted. I remonstrated with the trader who became very abusive.

Why is this allowed to happen? This particular trader had no prices displayed whatsoever. I understand that this is illegal. Who, if anyone, does the rounds to ensure the law on pricing is enforced?

On that day, there were numerous tourists at the market who were obviously being exploited by these very few unscrupulous traders. Our wonderful island depends on foreign visitors who always speak with great affection about the Maltese people. Sadly, some of them are left with a very bad taste having been blatantly robbed in cold daylight!

I must point out that I am referring to a very small minority of traders; the majority do not practise such discrimination.