What Tourists Should Expect During Malta’s Election Weekend
If you’ve spent any time in Malta this week, you’ve probably already noticed that something big is happening. Roadsides are covered in red and blue posters, balconies are draped in party flags, cars are driving around blasting campaign songs, and conversations everywhere from beach clubs to village cafés somehow keep circling back to politics.
Tomorrow is voting day in Malta’s national election, and while visitors won’t be directly involved, the atmosphere across the islands this weekend will be difficult to miss. Today (Friday 29) marks the official media blackout period ahead of voting, meaning television stations, radio and news outlets stop active election coverage and campaigning temporarily goes quiet. The calm, however, rarely lasts long in Malta during election weekend.
Polling stations open early tomorrow morning, but the biggest changes for visitors usually begin on Sunday once vote counting gets underway. While official results can take time, early polling trends and counting indications tend to give a strong sense fairly quickly of which side is pulling ahead. Once momentum starts swinging one way, celebrations across the island begin almost immediately.
And in Malta, election celebrations are anything but subtle. Expect huge convoys of flag-covered cars driving through towns, supporters hanging from windows waving either red Labour flags or blue Nationalist ones, fireworks going off throughout the day and night, music blasting from car speakers, and near-constant horn-beeping in some areas. At times, the atmosphere feels somewhere between a national celebration and a football final.
Spinola, St Julian’s, Hamrun and areas surrounding major party clubs and headquarters will likely be among the busiest locations on Sunday evening. Roads around these areas can become heavily congested very quickly, sometimes with little warning, particularly once unofficial indications begin pointing towards a likely winner.
Visitors planning airport transfers, dinner reservations or island drives on Sunday evening should leave extra time where possible. Even short journeys can suddenly take much longer than expected once celebrations move onto the roads.
If you’re staying in nightlife hotspots such as St Julian’s or Sliema, expect a particularly lively atmosphere well into the early hours of Monday morning. Fireworks, chanting, music and car horns often continue late into the night after counts progress.
Some smaller businesses, family-run cafés and local shops may also open later than usual on Monday, while others may remain closed altogether following the long election weekend.
St Julian's and Spinola
Despite the noise and chaos, the atmosphere is generally celebratory rather than confrontational. Maltese elections are very much part of local tradition and community identity, which is why the entire island tends to become emotionally invested during election weekends. Even visitors with no interest in politics will likely find themselves caught up in the energy of it all!
The best advice for tourists is simply to stay flexible, avoid unnecessary driving on Sunday evening, keep an eye on local traffic updates, and enjoy the atmosphere from a comfortable distance. If you suddenly find yourself watching fireworks explode over Spinola while a convoy of red and blue flags crawls past in traffic below your balcony, congratulations, you’ve just experienced a very Maltese election weekend!
