Plans are currently been drawn up for the sale of the Selmun Palace and hotel, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna confirmed.

The ministry has also commissioned a technical evaluation of its condition, he said.

He was responding to a parliamentary question by MP Clayton Bartolo, who asked what state the palace was now in. He reassured him that the site was under constant surveillance by security guards, and that the ministry also sent staff to carry out inspections.

The palace was built in the 18th century by the Monte della Redenzione degli Schiavi, funded by the Monte di Pietà. It was turned into a hotel owned by Selmun Palace Hotel Company Ltd, a subsidiary of Air Malta.

It was closed in 2011 as part of a restructuring strategy in which the airline began to focus solely on its core operations, and has languished since then. 

It was scheduled as a Grade 1 national monument in 2012.

In 2014, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in parliament that informal talks had been held between Air Malta and Mepa on possible development of the Selmun Palace Hotel.

The building of a new wing to the Selmun Palace Hotel was included in proposals for the site launched by Mepa at the government's request.

Read: Mepa suggests new wing for Selmun Palace Hotel