Malta is not all about sunbathing, swimming and sightseeing. It is also terrific for enthusiasts of urban exploration. In the south of the island in Marsaskala, I found an urbex gem: Jerma Palace Hotel.
Despite the perfect location by the beach, the hotel has been empty for 15 years. Once a luxurious 4-star resort where Muammar Gaddafi had his presidential suite is now decorated with excellent graffiti. Walking through the empty rooms and hallways feels like visiting a modern art gallery.
Jerma Palace Hotel – History
Before a Lybian State Company Lafico – built the hotel in 1982, Marsaskala was a serene fishing village, and the ground belonged to the Franciscans. Since Jerma Palace opened, the population of Marsaskala has rapidly grown to about 12 000 people.
The luxurious rooms attracted many guests. One of them was the Lybian dictator Muammar Gaddafi who had a close relationship with Maltese Prime Minister Dom Mintoff.
If you want to see what Jerma Palace Hotel looked like in its heydays, check out this article.
Why did Jerma Palace Hotel close?
The hotel was closed only after 25 years of operations. It is not entirely clear why. Some say that the glamorous surface concealed cheap building materials and bad design, and the construction started to fail.
The closure was supposed to be temporary. One year later, the Lybians sold the hotel for 20 million USD. The new owner had an ambitious plan to transform it into luxurious apartments and a 5-star hotel with a fancy yacht marina.
The planning authorities didn’t approve this project. The local plans stated that only tourist accommodation was allowed in this area. On top of that, The new owners faced some financial problems and had to scale the project down.
The building was falling into a derelict state and looked nothing like the posh hotel it once used to be. The looters took everything: pretty carpets, marble floors and even bricks. The place became popular among squatters and drug addicts.
In 2016, the go ordered the demolition of the hotel, which would cost the owner about 1,5 million euros. Ironically, the building caught fire exactly on the same day. Supposedly, the piles of rubbish planted in the ruins flared up.
The owner appealed the demolition order and sold the building. So far, the authorities haven’t approved any new reconstruction plans.
Urbex in Malta
For such a small country, Malta has surprisingly a lot of abandoned places that can attract enthusiasts of urban exploration. Closed hotel complexes, bankrupt private hospitals and empty discos stay empty as their owners often cannot afford the renovation or face resistance from the planning authorities.
To find more interesting locations for urbex in Malta, check out ascosilasciti.com.
Why are there so many empty buildings in Malta?
Walking around Malta, I asked myself the question: why are so many houses, shops and hotels empty and, at the same time, you see construction cranes everywhere?
You would expect that the third most densely populated country in Europe will rather make use of existing buildings instead of building new ones. Unfortunately, the renovation oftentimes turns out costly. Another problem is inheritance. To sell some of the old houses, you need to trace down three brothers, five cousins and an uncle, only to find out that one of them won’t agree to sell out of spite.
As was in the case of Jerma Palace Hotel, strict local plans don’t make it easy to renovate some buildings. The Planning Authority has a reputation as a bureaucratic and corrupt institution, approving the construction of new monstrous projects that make absolutely no sense in landscape planning.
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