The tourism geography of Italy and Malta

Abstract

Despite its geographical closeness to Italy, in language and culture Malta has closer links to Britain and North Africa. Although the Maltese islands are poor in natural resources, they are strategically important due to their location in mid-Mediterranean between the Straits of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal. Malta's fine natural harbours also made it a valuable prize for foreign invaders over the centuries. The most important of these, prior to the British takeover, was the international Crusading order known as the Knights of St John, who made Malta their base in the sixteenth century. As a result the islands were in the front line of the military struggle between Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire. In the nineteenth century and for most of the twentieth, Britain used the Grand Harbour at Valletta as a base for the Royal Navy. The smaller island of Gozo was neglected, and remains something of a backwater compared to the main island of Malta, although it is greener and scenically more attractive. The first impression of Malta is an apparently barren landscape of small terraced fields, separated by drystone walls and dotted with villages built from the honey-coloured rock. Due to the limestone geology of the islands and the rather dry climate, water supply is problematic, and tourism has to compete with other demands for this resource.