Attacks on people in restaurants are not the ‘norm’, the Secretary at the Association of Catering Establishments Omar Vella said. Having said this, the people’s safety in these establishments is of paramount importance.

The Malta Independent contacted the Association of Catering Establishments (ACE) as well as the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) on the safety and security of people in eating establishments.

Three men were recently injured as a Spanish man entered a restaurant in St Julian’s and attacked patrons. The police had said that the Spaniard entered the restaurant, grabbed a knife and a glass bottle, and started to attack the patrons. He has been charged with the incident.

During the incident, the 38-year-old Spaniard allegedly broke a glass bottle on the head of a Swiss man.  Two Italian men were also injured, while the Spaniard allegedly damaged a car as well.  The man was so aggressive that police had to use a taser gun on him in order to restrain him.

“The Spaniard incident is not the norm, statistically, situations such as these have never been the norm and there are no high numbers in Malta of such incidents happening,” Vella said when asked if safety in these establishments has become a concern.

He said that it is paramount to have an element of security within eating establishments as well as places of entertainment so that people, especially tourists, feel safe.

Vella said that authorities have increased more enforcement around areas with restaurants, and it is recommended that security in these areas become the norm so that in light of an attack, police can act immediately.

Vella said that government must continue to push more for deployment of police in these areas, so that the areas are as safe as possible. He said the government has already done so around areas such as Paceville.

“The country in itself has successfully controlled the issue as the numbers aren’t there. It is necessary to have security in these places however safety has not become a major concern,” Vella said. He added that there is no correlation between problems of security with chairs and tables set out in the promenades outside the restaurants.

President of the MHRA Tony Zahra said that “restaurants and hotels are places associated with relaxation and enjoyment of the ‘joie de vivre’ and certainly not places where one expects to find or to want to find high visibility security personnel as this would kill the whole object of visiting these establishments to relax and enjoy oneself.”

However, Zahra said that hotels do have security personnel as well as security cameras and other security systems in place. He emphasised that taking action to increase more security after one unfortunate event could harm the “relaxed atmosphere found in hotels and restaurants.”

Asked if there should be fewer tables and chairs on promenades outside of restaurants where there could be less security, Zahra said that “we must avoid turning one incident into some sort of massive problem.”

“Regrettably there is nothing one can do more than what is being done already. This has nothing to do with tables and chairs outside,” Zahra said.