“I have reported instances of double- or triple-parking in the square,” said Christian Zammit, a local councillor in Xaghra. “But it’s not my task to ask drivers to move if they are double-parked.”
He is talking about the jumbled parking that has worsened since the 2016 completion of a refurbishment project. The tiling of much of the square with porfido encouraged the cafés and restaurants to extend outdoor seating over the tiled area, and the cars to park ever more incongruously and illegally. It’s not infrequent for the square to become jammed with sedentary cars on weekends.
Last week it was the vehicles that prevailed in the contest for the square after officials from the Lands Authority ordered strict adherence to permits on outdoor seating. That forced cafés and restaurants to take in most tables – each only has permits for a couple of tables, and the porfido-tiled area is not zoned as pedestrian.
The square has since reverted to a glorified car park. One of the liveliest in the islands, it boasts three restaurants and six cafés, some doubling as bars in the evenings. It makes for a charming scene on balmy evenings as the outdoor tables fill with diners and families, the baroque church looming ornately over the scene.
“The square without the outdoor chairs and tables is like a cemetery,” Xaghra’s mayor, Joe Cordina, told The Sunday Times of Malta. “But I understand that various competing entities use the square, and traffic actually flows through the square as if through a crossroads. So I am in favour of striking a balance between the outdoor tables and the other people who use the square, such as residents and church-goers.”
Without the chairs and tables, it’s like a cemetery
The council has no decisive power in the matter. Responsibility for outdoor seating lies with the Planning and Lands Authorities, and parking with Transport Malta. “We often end up as a punching bag,” Dr Zammit said. “People complain to us, but we have no authority over this.”
The council is now appealing to the Ministry for Gozo for a master plan, to regulate traffic while allowing café life in the lovely square to flourish.
The glut of eating and drinking options – two more restaurants and boutique hotel are said to be in the works – was inspired by the 1985 opening of Oleander, dedicated to rustic Maltese food. Proprietor Mario Attard pioneered fine dining in inland towns, away from the seaside resorts. Now he’s officially leased out the restaurant but retains a say over standards and still holds progressive, pioneering ideas.
“I would make the square a pedestrian-only zone on summer evenings between 7pm and 11pm,” he said, “and generally limit parking in the square to people who live in it.” The council is discussing a narrower version of this idea: closing the square to traffic on summer weekend evenings.
That idea wouldn’t fully tackle the incongruity of porfido parking. But for now the merchants would be relieved to put their tables back outdoors. A petition launched this week has already gathered hundreds of signatures.
“We were told by the Lands Authority a new online system will go live on April 2 and will be a one-stop shop,” said David Pinfold, owner of one of the newest café-bars, 73 in the Square.
The system in force is inefficient. Applications bounce among three authorities – the MTA, PA and Lands Authority. It reportedly took another recent startup, the Coronation Bar, three years to get a permit for outdoor tables.
“We hope that the authorities concerned do not give a hard time to the cafés for permits,” weighed in Mayor Cordina. “It shouldn’t take years to issue permits.”