Island Sliema, Malta
Cats in Malta and Gozo
A seafront garden in Sliema that the locals turned into a cat village, a fishing harbour where the cats meet the boats, a walled capital with cats in the ditches, and the slower island across the strait. Malta feeds its cats in public and argues about how.
Where to find cats in Malta and Gozo: Independence Gardens on the Sliema seafront, the harbour at Marsaxlokk, the gardens and ditches of Valletta, and Marsalforn on Gozo. When: Early morning before the heat, or the evening promenade. April to June and September to November. Why here: An island that put its cat colony in a public garden with a statue on the roof, and a fishing village where the cats work the quay.
The short version
- Where
- Independence Gardens on the Sliema seafront, the harbour at Marsaxlokk, the gardens and ditches of Valletta, and Marsalforn on Gozo
- When
- Early morning before the heat, or the evening promenade. April to June and September to November
- How long
- A day for Sliema, Valletta and Marsaxlokk. A second day for Gozo
- What it costs
- Free. The feeders take donations at the garden and the boats to Gozo are cheap
- Why here
- An island that put its cat colony in a public garden with a statue on the roof, and a fishing village where the cats work the quay
What to bring
- The evening promenadeSliema’s seafront fills at dusk, the feeders come to the garden, and the cats come out of the hedges.
- Coins for the feeders’ tinThe Independence Gardens colony is fed by volunteers who have fought the council over its shelters. Support them.
- A bus passMalta’s buses go everywhere slowly. Marsaxlokk and the Gozo ferry are both on them.
- Nothing for the catsEvery colony on this page has a feeder. Add to their tin, not to the hedge.
Why there are cats everywhere
Sliema’s seafront garden has a cat colony, hand-built shelters, a fibreglass cat on the roof of the toilets, and a long-running argument about all three.
Malta has always had cats, on the ramparts of Valletta, in the ditches of the fortifications, on the quays of the fishing villages, and the Maltese feed them with a persistence that is close to a national trait. The most famous colony is in Independence Gardens on the Sliema promenade, where volunteers over the years built a village of wooden shelters under the trees, fed a few dozen cats, and put a large multicoloured cat statue on the roof of the public toilets as a landmark. The cat village became a stop on every visitor’s walk.
It also became a fight. The council has periodically cleared the handmade shelters, most recently replacing them with plain wooden boxes the feeders called coffins, and the feeders have periodically won them back. The cats, throughout, have been fed, neutered and photographed, and are in fine condition. It is a small story about who a public garden is for, and the cats are the winning side.
Elsewhere: Marsaxlokk, the fishing village in the south with the painted luzzu boats and the Sunday fish market, has quay cats who meet the boats. Valletta has cats in Upper Barrakka Gardens and along the ditches of the walls. And Gozo, twenty-five minutes by ferry, has the same cats slower, on the harbour wall at Marsalforn and in the citadel at Victoria, with a bicycle or two to sit on.
The walk
Sliema’s garden in the morning, the ferry to Valletta, the bus to Marsaxlokk for lunch on the quay, and a second day for Gozo. Two days, most of them by the sea.
- From Malta airportBus X2 or a taxi to Sliema40 minThe bus is slow and cheap; a taxi is fixed-fare from the rank.
- From SliemaFerry to Valletta10 minAcross Marsamxett harbour. The best view of the capital is from the boat.
- From Valletta bus stationBus to Marsaxlokk, or to Ċirkewwa for the Gozo ferry45 minMarsaxlokk is forty minutes; Ċirkewwa is an hour and then the boat.
Independence Gardens
On the Sliema promenade towards St Julian’s. The shelters are under the trees on the landward side, the cats are in the hedges in the heat and on the paths in the evening, and the statue is on the toilet roof. The feeders’ tin is by the shelters.
On the wall, waiting. The feeders are late by a minute.muffinn, CC BY 2.0 Valletta, Upper Barrakka
The ferry across Marsamxett harbour and up to the gardens on the bastion with the Grand Harbour below. Cats in the beds and along the ditch under the walls. The noon gun goes off; the cats do not move.
In the shade of the walls. Valletta at noon is a cat under a hedge.muffinn, CC BY 2.0 Marsaxlokk
Bus south to the fishing village with the painted boats. Cats on the quay at the fish stalls, most on Sunday when the market fills the front. Lunch here is the fish; the cat under the table has an opinion on it.
Feeding time on the stone. A family, by the look of the stripes.Ben124., CC BY 2.0 Marsalforn, Gozo
The ferry from Ċirkewwa, then the bus across Gozo to the little harbour on the north coast. Cats on the sea wall and around the boats; the same cats, slower. Victoria’s citadel on the way back has a few on the bicycles.
At home. Malta builds its cats houses and then argues about the architecture.muffinn, CC BY 2.0
Same numbers as the list. Worth keeping open on your phone.
The cats you will meet
Maltese cats: short-coated, grey tabby and ginger and white, neutered in good numbers by the island’s volunteers, fed in public at colonies with shelters, and used to a promenade of people every evening. Sociable at the garden, professional on the quay, asleep in the ditches.
Garden cats
In the shelters and hedges at Independence Gardens.
The village. Fed by volunteers, argued over by the council.
Quay cats
At the fish stalls of Marsaxlokk.
Meet the boats. Sunday is payday.
Wall cats
In the ditches under Valletta’s bastions.
Shade, stone, and the noon gun.
Everybody says The cat village has been closed down.
Actually The shelters have been removed and replaced more than once, and the feeders have fought each time. The cats have never left. Check the feeders’ pages for the current state of the architecture; the colony is there regardless.
How not to be the annoying one
- Give to the feeders’ tin, not to the hedge. They have a rota and a vet.
- Do not move or open the shelters. Somebody built them and somebody is asleep in them.
- On the quay at Marsaxlokk, the fish sellers feed the cats. Buy the fish.
- Valletta’s gardens are for everyone at noon. Stay on the paths.
- On Gozo, slow down. That is what it is for.
