Foreigners smile when Maltese people tell them that Marsaxlokk is far away from Mellieha. They probably travel twice or three times that distance – if not more - every day to go to work and do the reverse journey in the evening.

But for us Maltese the perception is that unless it’s just round the corner from our house, it is “far away”. And this is perhaps why, even in tiny Malta, there are many people who have their so-called summer house, a place by the sea. Now, frankly,the sea is not far off from anywhere in Malta, as a 20-minute journey is enough to land anyone on the coast – and this is when traffic is rather heavy.

Still, many look forward to summer just because they move from their “winter” home and spend three months at the beach. But,even here, there is a difference too. Because while many have a second residence – such as a small apartment in areas such as Mellieħa and St Paul’s Bay – many others still, spend the entire summer in what are known as boathouses.

They’re not really boathouses – because no boats are kept in them. They are big rooms with curtains acting as partitions in between the kitchen/living room, and the place where these families sleep. Just take a stroll along the Buġibba/Qawra promenade to get an idea of what we are referring to.

There, many families literally live under the road, just beneath the promenade. There is enough parking space for their cars too and, these days, most of these rooms are also equipped with air-conditioning systems. Apart from kitchen facilities like cookers, fridges and freezers, many have televisions too.

It is a reality that people who do not experience cannot understand. How could whole families go through summer living like this? How could they leave the comfort of their homes and spend three months in just one room beneath a road? Is this the only kind of holiday they can enjoy?

The people who do it will not exchange it for anything else. For them, there is no better place to be during the hot summer months. True, there is nothing like a summer breeze which is always cooler on the coast. But then is it worth it to leave your home for just one room by the sea?

People who have never done so would never think of doing it. But people who have grown accustomed to the idea think it is paradise.