VALLETTA — In a move described by officials as “creative urban planning” and by residents as “uwa, kemm?”, Valletta council has quietly passed a law recognising the tiny gaps between traditional gallariji as transferable private property.
The council cited chronic Vespa congestion and a national shortage of parking as the reason. “If we cannot make more space on the road, we will make the space above it worth something,” said Deputy Mayor Karmenu Borg in a statement that nobody asked for but everyone received on WhatsApp.
Minor property boom
Within 24 hours, local electricians — known around town for fixing everything from lights to logic — started offering notarised “air deeds” for 20-centimetre strips. For €15, buyers receive a laminated certificate, a stamp from a notary (who swears he understood the law), and a helpful little sketch showing exactly which 20cm of nothing they now own.
”People used to fight over parking. Now they argue about centimetres of air. It’s progress, mela.”
The first auction was held outside a pastizzeria at six in the morning, because Valletta. Bidders included a man who claimed to want the strip to hang a new curtain, a woman who wanted to prevent a neighbour’s plant from drooping, and a tourist who thought it was a traditional Maltese ritual.
It closed at three pastizzi and an annual Tallinja card. The buyer, Pawlu Mifsud, said he plans to use his 20cm to lean his scooter mirror on during busy festa weekends. “I have dignity back,” he told reporters while waving his receipt like a diploma. “U iva, it smells a bit of tomato from the pastizzi but it’s mine.”
Not everyone is thrilled. The Planning Authority reportedly asked for copies of the law and then asked again, while parking wardens said they will need new training on how to ticket air. Several neighbours started measuring their gallariji with tape measures, and at least one man rented a ladder to check the legal borders.
Electricians are optimistic. They now offer bundles: three adjacent 20cm strips for the price of two pastizzi, plus free wiring. Analysts predict a new market for ‘air fences’ and a possible future IPO if the Gozo ferry gets involved.
At press time, the council was considering recognising the tiny shadow under shop awnings as a pensionable asset.