u/jindirseqqqqqqq

And before people get mad, there ARE things I really like here. The Maltese people have honestly been great to me overall, the weather is amazing most of the year, and the sea is incredible. Swimming here is probably one of the best parts about living on the island.

But ...

Everything feels insanely overpriced. Restaurants and cafés charge crazy prices everywhere now, not even just in tourist areas, and half the time the food or service is just average at best. Rent is ridiculous too considering what you actually get.

And seriously, how does such a tiny country have public transport this bad? The buses are constantly late, packed, random, or just don’t show up properly. Traffic is horrible basically all the time. I’ve travelled around quite a bit and Malta genuinely has one of the worst public transport systems I’ve experienced in Europe. Only Albania was worse for me honestly.

What I really don’t get is why the government keeps pushing fuel subsidies instead of properly investing into infrastructure and public transport. Like would Maltese people actually be THAT upset paying a bit more for fuel if it meant having reliable buses, less traffic, cleaner streets and a country that actually feels organised in the long run? Because right now the whole thing feels super short-sighted and not future-proof at all.

And the dirtiness honestly shocked me when I moved here. So many streets just lined with black trash bags everywhere. Sometimes it genuinely feels like you see more garbage bags than trees or plants. And where is the greenery? Most urban areas just feel like endless concrete and cars squeezed into every available space.

Another thing that honestly surprised me is the political culture here. Sometimes it feels less like politics and more like football rivalry. People screaming party chants, acting hostile the second you criticise “their side”, and almost zero openness to actual debate. From the outside it genuinely feels like the two big parties mostly just throw money and benefits at voters and whoever promises more wins gets support. Freebies here, subsidies there, handouts everywhere. Is this really what politics here has become? And how are more people not upset about it?

And honestly my experience with the healthcare system here was probably the final straw for me. I had to deal with Mater Dei and the whole experience felt chaotic and completely disorganised. The hospital felt understaffed, but somehow there seemed to be security personnel everywhere acting bossy instead of actual attentive medical staff. Nobody really seemed compassionate or interested in properly dealing with my situation.

I got bounced around between different departments and personnel constantly and it honestly felt like nobody wanted responsibility for my case. They couldn’t even give me a follow-up appointment for two weeks, which resulted in multiple unnecessary trips back to Mater Dei. In the end the experience got so frustrating and stressful that I literally flew back home just to get proper treatment, which obviously wasn’t ideal at all.

And honestly that’s what makes the whole thing so frustrating. I REALLY WANT to like Malta. I really do. The country has so much potential and there are genuinely things I’ll miss. I’d actually love to come back in the future. But with the way things currently are the infrastructure, overdevelopment, dirtiness, traffic, healthcare experience and overall lack of long-term planning and I just can’t see that happening.

Do Maltese people actually feel frustrated by these things too or have most people just accepted that this is how the country works now?

EDIT: the main point of this wasnt to say that the main problem i have with Malta are expensive restaurants. That was more of rant on my side and is of a very subjective opinion.

EDIT2: for more context i came here for a study/work internship and most of my time lived in Msida and Pietá. I come from central Europe - I have dual citizenship between Austria and the Czech Republic and lived in both countries for long periods.