No sunbeds will be allowed on Blue Lagoon’s sandy beach in Comino while also a limit on the number of sunbeds on the quay has also been placed, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo said on Monday.

Activist group Moviment Graffitti held a protest on Saturday at the bay in Comino and removed rental deckchairs which overcrowded the bay rendering it impossible for people to stay there without renting.

Bartolo told journalists outside Parliament that matters at the Blue Lagoon have improved and that the sandy area is now more accessible. He added that the rental sunbeds and umbrellas would no longer be placed there.

Bartolo said that there will be a reduction in the number of sunbeds and umbrellas that will be allowed on the quay, however, they will not be set up from the morning. He said that this will assure the chance for people to lay out their towels whilst catering for people who want to rent sunbeds.

Bartolo was asked about capping the number of visitors at the popular bay as Graffitti had suggested, to which he said that this is being considered as a part of a long-term management plan for Comino.

He said that studies still need to be carried out regarding this and sustainability needs to be achieved.

Talks with the relevant authorities to ensure adequate law enforcement in Comino are ongoing, Bartolo said.

Bartolo said that Graffitti was at the bay removing the sunbeds on the same day that the Malta Tourism Authority officials were meant to be there to address the issue.

“The issue is always that one must keep monitoring and supervising the situation and that is what we will be doing regularly, our goal is to keep increasing monitoring,” Bartolo said.