Every tourism resort that developed in the 1970s through to the 1990s saw rampant rape of its coastline as tasteless hotels and apartment blocks sprang up by the seaside. Malta was no exception.

We have some absolute eyesores in Sliema, Qawra, Buġibba, Mellieħa, Xemxija and St Julian’s. But over the past two decades, things have changed. Malta realised that it had to preserve its charm and character if it was going to compete with other destinations. Besides, it was about time we began to embrace our culture and heritage as natives.

Laws have also improved to keep the coasts as free of development as possible. Laws were also put into place to prevent littering, to improve safety of swimmers, to prevent erosion and damage by barbecues. This is all positive.

But we wish to tackle a specific place and a specific problem in this leading article. We will put it into context by showing that laws can sometimes seem unfair. We all know how irritating it is to get booked on the road. Sometimes we are parked slightly outside a box, other times we ‘nip out’ to post a letter, forget about a speed limit or even get caught munching on a snack… most of us have done it. We are an unruly lot, and rightly, we get fined. We pay our dues and there we go, the wheel keeps turning. Wardens are out there to do a job. Sometimes they can be petty and sometimes they issue tickets unfairly, but mostly, they do what they are supposed to.

A couple of weeks ago, we spoke about the rape of coastlines in term of marine life. Unfortunately, the issue was not acknowledged. This time we will speak of flagrant abuse of the coastline for parking purposes. The place is Exiles, Sliema. Despite the tower blocks, Exiles point has remained largely untouched by the sea. There is a small rocky beach which is a permanent fixture for locals and foreigners alike when it comes to balmy summer days. Parking is a problem in Sliema, this we acknowledge. But people are parking – often 4x4 vehicles – right on the beach side, on limestone which has been smoothened to what it is over hundreds and thousands of years.

There are laws against it. People are not allowed to park their vehicles down there. We ask therefore, why don’t wardens patrol this area – surely, parking on pristine beach limestone is a greater contravention than being four inches out of a white box… isn’t it?

The Malta Tourism Authority should also get involved. We harp on about preserving Malta’s charm. We have succeeded on the grander scale, but on the local scale, we often fail.