I wrote this post out of a need to express myself and point out all the disadvantages we faced while living in Malta. Rarely do people speak about the bad side of things, but I want to honestly share the concerns that ultimately led to our decision to leave Malta. I’m not trying to convince anybody; I’m sure many will disagree, but this is our personal view of the challenges of family life in Malta that made us realize it was time to move on.
🌳 The Pain of Nature Disconnection and Non-Stop Construction
Malta certainly has its own kind of natural beauty, but after 8 years on the island, we reached a point where we desperately missed green nature, tall trees, mountains, and fresh, clean air. We missed clean water and natural springs. Instead of hearing the sounds of birds and the wind blowing through leaves, we heard the sound of construction from morning until late afternoon.
During our eight years, the building never stopped, and we couldn’t see an end to the overdevelopment. Living in Qawra, the one green space we had was Salini National Park. While it offered an escape, after a few visits, the limited nature felt repetitive and, naturally, it was always crowded. Places like Buskett Garden—the only woodland in Malta—were great, but difficult to reach. Having a car helped, but the traffic congestion in the high summer season was unbearable. Trying to use the bus with two small children for an hour-long trip was simply too inconvenient.
💰 The Cost of Living in Malta Was Too High for Too Little Quality
It was always nice to eat out, but when it came to cooking at home, the quality was a constant letdown. The local soil just wasn’t good enough to produce the tasty, nutritious fruits and vegetables we were used to. Most things were imported and felt tasteless.
Coming from a country with wonderful soil, we knew what good tomatoes, peaches, and oranges should taste like. We often noticed a lack of appetite here. Whenever we visited Macedonia or Hungary, my kids would eat so much more!
This issue was compounded by the dramatically rising cost of living in Malta. Most of our budget was absorbed by grocery shopping and food. The prices were constantly pumped up, making our life there feel expensive. Our average 10-day grocery trip from Lidl cost us around €170, and we always had to spend extra throughout the week.
🏠 Unsustainable Rent and Property Prices in Malta
The property industry was clearly the driver behind the continuous building boom. To rent a two-bedroom apartment, we couldn’t find anything under 800 euros. To buy the same type of property, the price was around 230,000 euros, requiring a minimum 30% deposit for a bank loan. Achieving that level of savings after starting from scratch in Malta was simply impossible for us.
🥵 Extreme Heat, Humidity, and the Lack of Seasons
Once we had children, we genuinely started hating the summer, especially July and August. The temperatures in Malta regularly rose above 40+ °C, but the worst part was the high humidity. With so few trees, there was no fresh air, forcing us to spend all our time under the AC. Day-time outdoor activities were non-existent. Even a simple 15-minute walk to pick up the kids from school became an exhausting ordeal.
We deeply missed the changing seasons. Our kids still hadn’t seen snow, and we didn’t want them to miss out on that beautiful part of life. The need to constantly run the AC while working from home also meant high electricity bills, and the constant humidity led to unhealthy mold in our buildings—a perpetual worry.
🗑️ Pollution and a Broken Garbage System
One of the most frustrating daily sights was the pavements full of garbage bags. While there was a recycling system, in our experience, it wasn’t implemented correctly. Pavements often served as trash bag collection areas, making simple things like pushing a stroller a challenging obstacle course. The sheer number of cars, paired with poor infrastructure, meant traffic and pollution were consistently high.
⚖️ Dealing with a Corrupted Country and Personal Fraud
The prevalence of corruption and fraud in Malta was alarming, leading to few social benefits and required payments for everything.
Our family became a victim of fraud a year and a half before we left, a case that severely impacted our life. The issue involved No Deposits Car Malta—a well-known dealer company whose owner has been exposed for multi-million euro fraud. This company was known for defrauding hundreds of people, yet it continued to operate.
We had purchased a car that was never delivered, yet they demanded the full payment. My husband’s account ended up thousands of euros in minus, and a car we did manage to get from another dealer was confiscated due to this case. The ongoing court process was a huge strain. Not having a car, dealing with debt, and managing countless related expenses was a significant factor in why our life in Malta became so hard and limited, driving our decision to move.
🗺️ The Small Island Limitation Became Restrictive
Malta is a beautiful island, but its small size became too restrictive. Having lived there since 2015, we eventually got bored. There isn’t a huge diversity of things to do or places to visit. Valletta, the capital, is truly beautiful, but the nature is everywhere the same, confirming why the island is called “the rock.”
While we enjoyed it for a few years, it eventually became boring because there was nothing new to see. Travelling was the only solution, but the flight prices were not cheap, making it impossible to take the whole family to new destinations frequently. Being an island in the middle of the Mediterranean, we always felt tied down, and finding an isolated, peaceful place to truly escape the crowds was almost impossible.
👨👩👧👦 Challenges as Foreign Parents and Short Maternity Leave
With both of us working, our small children had to attend childcare or school for a minimum of eight hours per day. While we were grateful for the free childcare system in Malta, we were unhappy that our young children had to spend so much time away from us. They learned and socialized, but we saw them crying, wanting more time with their parents. We couldn’t afford to stop working; we had to provide. The short 4-month paid maternity leave in Malta exacerbated this.
With only 3 months covered by the company and 1 month by the government, plus vacation time, we could barely stretch it to six or seven months. This forced us to send our babies to childcare very early (my children started at 6 and 9 months). For my daughter, we even paid €1,000 for a nanny one month. This difficult system, combined with the fact that even local grandparents had to work until age 60, meant there was no family support, leaving us sad and angry at the system and the endless household burden after an 8-hour workday.
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