I am writing this post as a need to express myself and point out to all the disadvantages I am currently facing in Malta. Rarely people speak about the bad side of things, as everybody is trying to see the positive side of their lives, but I will honestly share my concerns and what makes me wanting to leave Malta. I will not try to convince anybody in anything. I am rather sure many will disagree with my statements, but this is my personal view of the disadvantages of a family life in Malta.
Nature disconnections
Malta has it's own way of natural beauty, but after 8 years of living here, I have come to a point to desperately miss green nature, trees, mountains, fresh and clean air. Clean water and springs. I miss hearing the sounds of the birds, and the sound of the wind blowing the leaves of the trees. Instead from morning until late afternoon I hear the sound of constructions. In 8 years they didn't stop building up, and I can not see the end of it. I live in Qawra, and the only green park we have is Salini National park, where thankfully you can escape a bit of the sad reality. But after few times going there, you get bored of it, and is always crowded, as you can imagine. The island does have nice places to escape from the urban life, but it is not that easy to always go there, like Buskett Garde, the only Woodland in Malta. Having a car makes the things easier, but in the summer months, in the high season, roads are packed with traffic. You can also use a bus , but it is not that convenient with two small children. How often can you afford to go there when you need around one hour to get there.
Expensive and bad quality food
It is always nice when you go in a restaurant and have something prepared by a chef, it is also nice when you cook your own food, but let's not joke about this! The land doesn't have the good soil to produce nice, tasty and nutritious fruits and vegetables, most of things are imported and feels like you eat tasteless plants. I come from a country where we have wonderful soil for growing fruits and vegetables, variety of them. I know what tomatoes should taste, or peaches, or oranges, or cucumbers, you name it! I often feel a lack of apatite, how come when we visit Macedonia or Hungary, I can not stop eating, everything tastes so wonderful. Same for my kids, I see how much they eat here in Malta, or being abroad!
Another thing is how the cost of living in Malta is rising. Most of our money go on groceries shopping and food! They pump up the prices on everything, and yes I consider Malta expensive. A 10 day grocery shopping costs 170 euros from Lidl, and you always spend extra each day.
High prices of rent and properties
The property industry is blooming here, that's is another reason for building being build up on every side. To rent a two bedroom apartment don't expect to find anything under 800 euros, to buy the same way of property it will cost you around 230 000 euros, where you need to invest minimum 15 percent of deposit if you are buying it with a bank loan. Having that much of savings if you started from zero here, is impossible!
Extremely hot summer and high humidity
Since I have children, I literally started hatting the summer, especially July and August. The temperature in these months rises to 40+ °C, but that is not the worst part. The worst part is that it get's very humid, and with no trees there is literally no way of getting a fresh air, unless you spend your time under the AC. Forget about any outdoor activities, going somewhere and doing something during the day. Picking up the kids school with 15 minutes walk is a though activity to do! I miss the seasons, I miss the winter My kids still haven't seen snow, and that is something I don't want them to miss in their life. There is a beauty in the changing seasons. I miss the fall and the winter, and the beauty of the spring when everything comes back to life. Obviously working from home under the AC, as there is no other way, expect high electricity bills. The buildings are full of molds, an unhealthy thing that worries me.
Pollution and bad garbage system
On a daily bases the pavements are full with garbage bags. They do have a way of recycling, but in my opinion it is not the right way. The pavement actually serves as a place fort the garbage bags, not for people to walk. Imagine a mother with a push chair, it is very challenging adventure! There are also so many cars, streets are full with cars, and with it the traffic and pollution are very high.
Corrupted country
There are so many cases of corruption and frauds. Very few benefits, and payments for everything. My family, since a year and a half ago has been a victim of a fraud, and that case is affecting our everyday life. I should make a dedicated post about this matter, but the issue is with No Deposits Car Malta. A well know car dealer company, which owner has already being exposed with millions of euros of fraud, and his name is known, the company is known of damaging and frauding hundreds of people, and they are still existing and doing the same thing.
Long story short we purchased a car, which was never delivered to us, and they expected us to pay the full amount of the unseen car, which we didn't do. My husband's account ended up being in thousands of euros in minus, a car we took from another dealer company has been confiscated because of this case, and we are still waiting on the court process. Not having a car, having minus on our account, and having so many expenses because of this matter. One big reason that our life in Malta become hard and limited!
Small island and limitation
Malta is a beautiful island, but yet very small. I have been living here since 2015, and by now I really got bored of it. Three isn't a big diversity of things to do, and places to visit. Valletta, the capital is really beautiful and it has a nice energy. The nature is everywhere the same, and there is a big reason the island is called "the rock". You might enjoy it for few years, but after a while it becomes boring, as there isn't anything new to see. You will say you can travel, and that is true, but again the prices of the flight are not that cheap, and you can not afford to be taking your whole family to new destinations. Being that it is an island in the middle of the Mediterranean, you are tied to using flights or ferries to certain destinations. It is also becoming hard to find an isolated place where there aren't many people, and take a break from everything.
Being a foreign parent
If both of the parents are working, which is in most of the cases, having small children you have to send them to childcare or school 8 hours per day minimum. I have been very grateful from one side of the school and free childcare system here in Malta, but I am not happy that they being so young need to spend most of the day in the school. Yes, they learn a lot, craft things, socialize, but I see them most of morning crying and wanting to spend more time with their parents. But I can not afford that, we need to work to provide for the family. With this, the biggest blame goes to the system and the way we are used to live and take it as it is! Even having grandparents next to you, you can not lean on them, as they also need to work until they minimum reach 60 years of age. This makes me so sad and angry! After 8 hours of work, there are still so many things to be done around the household. So what first, where is the time for everything.
4 months maternity leave
The paid maternity leave is only 4 months. You have 3 months covered by the company you work in, and 1 month by the government. With the vacation leave days and possibility for an unpaid leave, you can make 6 to 7 months. If you have to go back to work, most probably you will have to send your baby to a childcare center. My children started with being 6 and 9 months. For my daughter I also had nanny for few months, and in one of the month we paid 1000 euros for nanny. I will let you build your own opinion on this.
Well, I will conclude this article here. As every place, Malta has it's own advantages and disadvantages. I have enjoyed this island to the best of my abilities, but would gladly move to another place. Surely will tell you more about all the beauty the island offer. If you are visiting Malta as a tourist, you can discover much more on my Travel Story Post blog, where I share travel stories and guides.
