A number of monti hawkers have temporarily moved their stalls further up Merchants Street, incensing shop owners in the popular Valletta shopping area.
Restaurant tables, stylishly cordoned off during the revamp of the area in recent years, are now interspersed with stalls loaded with lacy underwear.
In recent weeks, hawkers’ stalls have been reaching the corner with St John’s Street.
The move is temporary because of embellishment works on the Palace facade, which require scaffolding structures, according to a spokesman for the Investment Ministry.
The scaffolding and works “could represent a danger both for the hawkers and their customers,” the spokesman said.
It’s like a tackier version of Marrakech
However, the new location has irked businesses as they complained about the noise and the fact the stalls had moved quite a distance from their original position.
“The street looks cluttered and messy,” one owner said.
The area becomes chaotic when the hawkers dismantle stalls in the early afternoon with vans and cars reversing into the street. Hawkers pack vehicles to the brim with wares – all while people are having lunch in the enclaves between the stalls.
Once the last metal piece is put away and the vehicles drive off, the street is left littered with rubbish. Another angry shop owner said the presence of the stalls made the place look like a tacky version of Marrakech.
“We spend so much money on our shop windows and the view from one side of the street is blocked – we are losing money every day,” he said.
The spokesman said once the Palace restoration works are completed – but not specifying when this would be – the hawkers will be moved back to their original space in Merchants Street or in the earmarked site in Ordinance Street. Recently, Investment Minister Chris Cardona said the government would help monti hawkers replace their stalls using national and EU funds.
He said there was enough space for all 75 licence holders of the daily market to be relocated in Ordinance Street.
This move has been criticised, with claims the market would be an unsightly addition close to the capital entrance, which is being given a major facelift under the direction of world-renowned architect Renzo Piano.
The Sunday monti will also be relocated to Ordnance Street and the larger number of Sunday permit holders means that stalls will spill out of the limited space and into other areas of the city.
De Valette Square, part of Merchants’ Street and part of South Street are likely to be the Sunday spillover locations for stalls, the government has said.