Since Malta joined the Euro-pean Union, the Sliema-St Julian’s area has been inundated with foreigners. Add to this the construction frenzy and the traffic congestion and you’ll hear Maltese people grumbling that “Malta is finished!”

Rents have gone up because of the demand by foreigners.

The St Julian’s-Valletta bus route is packed with foreigners all year round. Cafes and restaurants and retail shops are staffed with foreigners. Foreign real estate firms have moved in to sell Malta, piece by piece, to wealthy foreigners. Foreign gambling firms have sprouted like mushrooms.

Crime has increased.

The quality of life in Malta has gone down the drain.

The other day, I sat waiting on a bus as it uploaded passengers at the constantly busy bus stop in front of the Wembley taxi service at St Julian’s. The passengers were coming from all directions and the driver packed them in like sardines. They were all foreigners: a few Europeans but mostly Africans, Arabs, Southeast Asians and Orientals.

I thought of the Malta I once knew and compared it with the way it is now. I said to myself: “This is what Malta will look like in the future.”