Malta is a fascinating mix of the old and the new. From medieval towns and churches to Ibiza-style beach clubs, the contrasts are everywhere. Because of its climate and proximity to most of Europe, it has always been a popular destination for Europeans, but hardly registers for most Americans.
As I looked through all of our photos from Malta, two things really stood out for me. First, we had virtually no photos with people in them. And second, there were construction cranes visible in nearly every photo we took. Stay with me here, these 2 things are related.
The week we spent in Malta was perhaps atypical. We were there the last week of May and it should have been hot and sunny. Instead, it was cool, rainy and windy much of the time we were there. For us, this meant spending more time just hanging out in local spots and less time “playing tourist”.
Generally, that’s a good thing for us. What we love most about traveling is getting to know the local people and culture of the places we visit. But we found that very difficult to do in Malta. Most of the people we encountered were foreigners. And when we did meet Maltese people, if we asked them about life in Malta, many of them were angry and grumpy and were happy to bend your ear to tell you why.
In recent years, Malta has initiated several new policies that are fundamentally reshaping the country and its people. Many of the changes are controversial and are clearly creating rifts within the country’s society.
In a nutshell, Malta lacks economic resources and military power, so they had to find another way to gain a competitive edge. Through loose financial regulations, low taxation, and efforts to nurture industries such as cryptocurrency, online gaming, and artificial intelligence, the result is that citizenship is up for sale, cryptocurrency exchanges are relocating to the island, and online gaming and creative financial services industries are booming.
This migration has also created a dumbbell economy, with the arrival of a great number of very wealthy people as well as minimum wage immigrants squeezing out the local middle class.
Only time will tell how it will play out, but we felt the anxiety and tension everywhere we went. Since this is a travel blog, I won’t dwell on it here. For anyone who’s interested in how the unintended consequences of economic policy lead to social engineering, here are a few good links.
How a Tiny Island in Europe Sold Its Soul to Online Gaming
How Malta became the blockchain island
Cherry-picking Europe: Migration and economic management in Malta
