All in all I am glad I went to Malta – the Temples and Valletta made it worthwhile. Malta is way too crowded – it is the most densely populated country in Europe with 415,000 inhabitants per 316 km2 and not counting the tourists. 95% of them are considered urban so the cities are nightmares. There are over 330,000 vehicles in total, making for one of the car-densest countries as well. That is there are 2 vehicles for every 3 people – including children. Monaco and Luxemburg may have more cars. According to the latest European survey, the average proportion of built-up land in Europe is 4%. For Malta it is a whopping 33%. The runner ups are Belgium and Luxemburg at 12%. I completely lost my sense of smell when I arrived in Malta and my lungs hurt from the pollution.

When I took public transportation (which is fantastic), all you could see along the route were rows of buildings on either side. Many of them were tiered 5-6 story apartment blocks, stained black with pollution. The only distinctive feature was the enclosed balconies.

Along the coast there were lovely villas and marinas probably belonging to British ex-pats spending the winters in Malta. I was surprised at the lack of green space in the cities and the very little agricultural land between cities. What little there was, was divided into tiny sub-plots. I was told that there was land behind the buildings and not visible from the roads.

The Maltese Tourist Office publishes 8 books of walks (each about 10 km). To me, that means that is the only space that is free for hiking.

Socially, I was not impressed with the people (except those engaged in the tourist industry). They appeared sullen and at the very least unhelpful, if not actively mean.

Malta achieved independence from Great Britain in 1964 but you would not know it. Although English and Maltese are both official languages in Malta, all the road signs are in English and most of the store names and notices are in English. When I mentioned this to an Anglo-Maltese, he replied that they were not forced to use English. I felt that I was in 1950’s Quebec. The Maltese are very “religious” and I felt a simmering sense of resentment in many of the Maltese shopkeepers, bus drivers, and other “common folk”. It doesn’t help that Maltese is a very harsh language (the only Semitic language that uses the Latin alphabet). It is mostly derived from Arabic, with Sicilian and English words thrown in. According to a European Union Report, the discrepancy between rich and poor as well as poverty has been steadily increasing in Malta since 2008.

Malta also has an inclusion problem. As one lady, with an English accent told me, with a sniff, there never were so many blacks in Malta before.

Most of the fruit and vegetables appeared to be imported and of inferior quality (compared to that in Sicily). Much of the pastry was oversweet (apparently diabetes is a problem). It reminded me of the cakes in England covered with a sickly-sweet pink, blue, and yellow icing. I did eat at a fine restaurant in Mdina, but I found the food rather “heavy”