Marsaskala
Marsaskala, also known as Wied il-Għajn or Marsascala and abbreviated as M'Skala or M'Scala is a seaside town in the Southern Region of Malta.
Originally a fishing village, it has grown into a tourist destination and a permanent hometown for an ever-growing population.
The parish church, built in 1953, is dedicated to Saint Anne and Marsaskala's feast is celebrated at the end of July.
Name and etymology
The name of the town is also written as Marsascala in old ortography, and often abbreviated as M'Skala.It is a composite name derived from Arabic. Marsa is the common word for harbour. Skala is of harder interpretation, most likely derived from Sqalli, with reference to a community of fishermen from the island, perhaps due to frequent Sicilian maritime activity.
Marsaskala is also known as Wied il-Għajn by the Maltese, as the bay and the old small village are flanked by two valleys, through which a spring of fresh water used to flow down into the innermost bay. Wied means valley and Għajn refers to the spring of fresh water. Literally, Wied il-Għajn means Valley of the Spring.
History
Humans have inhabited the area since pre-history, as evidenced by a number of archaeological finds. Some of the ancient remains are the cart-ruts, which are parallel channels formed in the rock.Early Christian catacombs, as well as Roman remains, were discovered in Marsaskala, the latter suggesting that Marsaskala was also a Roman port.
Remains of Roman baths were found in a field at il-Gżira, a rock peninsula behind the Jerma Palace Hotel.
Four identical Roman ship anchors were found in the bay during the 1960s, now at the Malta Maritime Museum.
In 2003, American amateur pseudo-archaeologist Bob Cornuke claimed that Paul the Apostle had been shipwrecked in St Thomas' Bay, in Marsaskala. This claim was never confirmed and discredited by field experts.
In 1614, 60 Ottoman ships carrying 6,000 soldiers landed at Marsaskala and launched an attack on the south of Malta. Although the battle was a decisive Maltese victory, it brought back fear and terrifying memories of the Great Siege of Malta.
Sea towers were built in the area to reduce vulnerability to seaborne attacks. They include Saint Thomas Tower and Żonqor Tower, as well as the Briconet Redoubt. Other towers were built privately by wealthy residents as fortified houses, including Mamo Tower, Tal-Buttar Tower and Tal-Gardiel Tower. In 1882 the British built the Żonqor Battery.
While still a quaint fishermen's village in early 1900, Marsaskala has grown exponentially in the course of the 20th and 21st century into the main urban centre in the south-east region of Malta, and the 8th biggest urban area in Malta. Urbanisation has led to the spread of residential developments, which have taken up the whole peninsula of San Tumas, the Bellavista hillside, and the Zonqor coastline.
The Jerma Palace Hotel was built in 1982 at the tip of Ras il-Gżira, in front of Saint Thomas Tower, owned by Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company and managed by Corinthia until its closure in March 2007. The redevelopment of its ruins remains an open issue The latest project by Joseph Portelli envisages two eight-storey blocks with 155 residential units, 258 serviced apartments, a 134-room hotel and a shopping centre. Despite no permit granted, such apartments are already presented for sale.
The Marsaskala Local Council was set up in 1994. The main issue in the first local election was the proposal for a new waste recycling plant and a number of biogas tanks in Sant'Antnin Valley. This development was disputed by a committee composed of seven Labour local councils and eight local non-government organisations.
In March 2017 a fire ripped through the Sant'Antnin waste treatment plant, destroying much of it. Most of the plant was shut down in December 2022. In 2024, plans were launched to turn it into a recreational green park covering 23,800 square meters. The new park would complement the nearby Sant'Antnin Family Park.
In August 2021, Transport Malta in a pre-qualification document suggested that most of Marsaskala Bay would be taken up by pontoons and yacht facilities for a new marina. Four bidders submitted their interest in October. Residents and the local council opposed it, including with public protests. While prime minister Robert Abela announced the project would be shelved, residents called for legal certainty, and asked to remove any reference to a yacht marina from the 2006 local plan for southern Malta. In May 2024 Malta's Planning Authority announced that such policy document would be withdrawn. According to researchers, "the Marsaskala marina plan is an example of how civil society mobilised and actively worked to voice its opposition".
Geography
The town surrounds the Marsaskala Bay or creek, a long narrow inlet which is sheltered to the north by Ras iż-Żonqor, the south-east corner of Malta, and to the south by the headland of Ras il-Gżira.The town itself is located along both sides of the bay, and across most of Il-Ħamrija, a creek leading to Il-Ponta tal-Gżira. The shore north of Ras iż-Żonqor is of low cliffs, with shelving rock ledges south of the point.
Marsaskala Bay is largely edged by promenade, with low shelving rock ledges cut with salt pans on the seaward face of Ras iċ-Ċerna, which continue on round the eastern point, past l-Abjad iż-Żgħir, and into St Thomas' Bay to the south.
Given the topography, the urban area is separated in several zones:
- The original village was in the area of San Gwakkin - Santa Tereza, on the road to Zabbar. To its the east are today concentrated the Local Council, the Parish Church, the primary school and police station. This urban area continues north of the bay until Zonqor point.
- South-West of the Parish church, the Marina promenade is shouldered by a dense area called Bellavista / Wied il-Għajn, which climbs upon the hills.
- Across the salty pond, the hilly peninsula of San Tumas is today fully urbanised and constitutes the main residential and touristic area, with several hotels and beaches.
Demographics
Marsaskala has a population of 16,804 people as of the 2021 census, swelling to over 20,000 in summer.While only recorded separate in census data since 1957, the town population has grown exponentially since, almost doubling every decade. Marsaskala is today the biggest urban centre in the south-east region of Malta, and the 8th biggest urban area in Malta.
Its foreign population similarly grew from 4.76% in 2001 to 6.08% in 2011 to 27.65%.
In terms of religious affiliation, at the 2021 census, the population aged 15 and over of Marsaskala reported following either Roman Catholicism, Islam, Orthodoxy, Hinduism, Church of England, Protestantism, Buddhism, Judaism, Other religious groups or having no religious affiliation.
In terms of racial origin, Marsaskala's population identifies as Caucasian, Asian, Arab, African, Hispanic or Latino, or having more than one racial origin.
The average age is of 38.9, lower than the national average of 41.7 and of the regional one of 40.5. Non-Maltese in Marsaskala have a lower average age than Maltese.
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Economy
The traditional activities of Marsaskala are agriculture and fishing. Since independence, tourism has grown in relevance, in particular after the opening of Jerma Palace Hotel in the 1980s.In the 2000s, Marsaskala has become a residential area for the growing number of Maltese residents, who live in the town and commute for work to other areas of the island, including the nearby airport and freeport.
Governance
The first council in Marsaskala was formed in April 1994. The first mayor was also Malta's first female mayor, Marvic Attard Gialanze. She had formed the Marsascala Residents' Association in 1991, and run on the same civic platform.She was succeeded by Charlie Zammit and Carmelo Mifsud.
Mario Calleja, a former police investigator and hotel manager, has been mayor of Marsaskala since 2006, re-elected in 2009, 2013, 2019 and 2024.
At the 2019 local elections, the Labour Party obtained 69.7% and the Nationalist Party 26.3%.
In 2020, mayor Calleja set up a sub-committee for the regeneration of Marsascala, chaired by Ray Abela, a PL candidate, and including the mayor himself together with persons with local business interests such as Ray's cousin Eric Abela, Joseph Farrell, and Angele Abela. The sub-committee liaised directly with government agencies including Malta Tourism Authority and Infrastructure Malta, without reporting to the local council or to the residents. Its proposals included pedestrianising the area in front of Ta' Grabiel, and the takeover of the hard shoulder in front of the Parish church for bars & restaurants. The sub-committee was dissolved following residents' pressure on the Local Council.
In 2021, the Malta Tourism Authority launched a "regeneration design contest" to increase the tourism attractivity of Marsaskala. The initiative was opposed by both Local Council and residents, who took to the streets to protest over-development without local consultation, considering it a continuation of the previous' years "sub-committee" work.
At the 2024 local elections, the Labour Party obtained 4429 votes and 7 seats, the Nationalist Party 2304 votes and 2 seats, and AD+PD 345 votes and no seats.
Active associations in town include Save Marsaskala and Marsaskala Residents Network.