General Chat

It was a favourite retirement place for ex-pats, 6d in the pound income tax. Then Dom Mintoff got into power....

Malta is a place you either love or hate lol! It's small and being spoiled by all the traditional houses being demolished to build flats for residents and tourists. I think from memory it gained it's independence in 1964 and became a republic in 1974

I have visited in February and worn summer clothing while my friends were in boots and warm sweaters lol It was chilly at night tho. Last time I visited, October 2007, the rain poured down most of the time, most disappointing, but August is too hot and crowded. It's easy to get round by bus but not so much fun since they did away with the old buses and got new ones. All the old classic cars are in a museum now where they used to be on the roads.

Would choose Crete over Corfu tho

Lizxx

I liked living in Malta - but I was a child, and it was idyllic.

My dad, who learnt Maltese during his two tours out there, reckoned the language was most similar to Arabic.
He said it helped when he moved to Saudi. He could speak Arabic like a native within a year, and after two years, being a 'non-denominational' Moslem (a joke between me and my dad, before I get 'jumped on' and 'put in my place') was teaching religion (Islam) to flying students :-D

Uzzi, What about the Cayman Islands? It's a British Territory. You could even get a job - how about tax inspector for the British Government - log in, claim your pay and log out again :-D

Andysmum not a lot different to Spain then ? :-D

Rollo trust me it was only a lighthearted tongue in cheek comment. Mind isn´t the local language of the UK a kind of patois now

Rose if I had to think about Trump in power then this could have been about the moon :-D

AnnCardiff as a non driver the roads wouldn´t worry me that much I would just get a horse and cart :-0 ;-)

Okay I may have to rethink my next move then :-P :-P how about Corfu ??

And me too, Rollo. :-S

We ought to leave the locked-in desire to Donald because it seems he'd be happy living like that. Sounds like a prison to me, when I come to think about it. :-0

I once spent two weeks holiday in Malta - would never go again - took my driving licence but once I saw the state of the road, I dropped the idea of driving over there
- the best thing I could say about the island was that the weather was lovely

Malta was never part of Britain. It was a crown colony. There was talk of incorporating it into the UK but the idea was rejected partly because it was feared that all the Maltese would migrate to the UK. Now they can they don't. A fair comment on modern Britain I guess.

The local language is a patois similar to that spoken in Gib ( most of the Gib naval workers originally came from Malta ) and it is def. not English but a mix of Italian, Arabic, English. The official language of course is English and they all speak it with different levels of success. About half a dozen of my rellies were born there when their parents were serving with the armed forces.

After donkey's years living in the Gulf all of the UK feels cold even in the couple of months which pass for "summer". Yes, I have worn Arran chunky sweaters in Douglas in July and shivered. One of my rellies was Bishop of Sodor and Man and his diaries complain bitterly about the cost of heating. Maybe being nesh runs in the family.

Even the cote d'azur is chilly before July. The CH here is usually set > 20 C. OH likes 25 C. My mother came from "up north" so I know what "nesh" means. One example is a Yorkshire engineer arriving in Kuwait mid-summer ( 45 C ) and leaving a couple of weeks later because of the "dreadful heat". Larf.

Any road Malta is wonderful for a short break in November when London is at its worst and the flying time is a lot shorter than Tenerife. My OH prefers Murcia though.

I will be glad when all the brexit nonsense is over. Referendums are devices of the devil - the substantive issues are rarely the centre of debate, all sides tell wopping great porkies and the emotional fall out is worse than a roses cricket match. Quite what the attraction is in turning this sceptered isle into this gated isle completely escapes me.

I used to live in the Isle of Man as a child, would go back there if I could afford it, I remember the summers as being long and warm, definitely no Scandi jumpers in summer Rollo ( you're not a nesh southerner are you? ;-) ) Mind you I don't like it hot so maybe my idea of warm is what other people call chilly lol.

I don't know about Brexit, but if Trump got in I would be looking for a safe place somewhere on the planet...though I doubt there would be one!

I love Malta, but I wouldn't want to live there.

Pros - hot, but not impossibly so, in summer.
Mild in winter, but quite wet.
Driving on the left, and it's not nearly as bad as Rollo says. (Try Italy, or even worse, Sicily)
Most people speak English.
The Maltese generally like the Brits - there are lots of ex-pats living there.

Cons - it can be very noisy. In the summer everything happens in the street, starting at about 6.30 am.
I have nothing against the RC religion, but 95% of the Maltese are strongly RC, there are hundreds of churches, all of them have bells and all of them have festas at every opportunity!!

That said, I strongly recommend it for a holiday, particularly if you like history. May and October are good. Decent weather and outside the British school holidays.

Rollo I bow to your knowledge I actually did know it wasn´t part of the UK any more but the brain had a senior moment as the language is English and it used to be part of Britain

It´s pro and cons ...hot in summer ..yeah
deserted in winter ....bliss
driving horrendous ...where isn´t and I don´t drive :-)

As already said it was a lighthearted thought for my itchy feet. I am not going to moving any time soon (if ever perish the thought ) :-D :-D :-D :-D

Malta GC is an independent EU state def. not under British rule.

Like most places it has its pros and cons but is not a very good proposition if you need to earn money. It is seriously hot in the summer and boring all the year around. Driving is horrendous.

Bits of Europe under British rule not part of the UK:
Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Cyprus Sovereign Base Areas. Of these Gib. is the only one within the EU right now. Only Gib. and the IOM allow UK citizens automatic residency rights. Isle of Man is cold even during what they call summer but no worse than N.I. That means you can wear fancy Scandinavian sweaters 12/12 :-)

Brits have lived and worked in Europe for a thousand years and vice versa. Despite the rubbish printed in the DM XPress and so on that would continue even in the unlikely (*) event of a brexit. Invokation of Article 35 would start a 2 year min. period of status quo in any case.

All serious analysis suggests renog. of trade and other arrangements would take 5-10 years and be deeply disruptive and destablising both for the UK and the EU. The £ has dropped by 15c against the €uro since the new year.

(*) Much of the "polling" headline in the redtops is based on internet surveys and small ( cheap ) telephone surveys. It is this sort of thing that caused the last election poll and Scots referendum to be wrongly called. Deeper (more expensive) polling suggest a "remain" vote winning by > 10% as compared to "exit".

The more accurate surveys are now of great commercial value especially to hedge funds and traders in anything from crude oil, natural gas to cars and (no surprise) bulk steel. Any leaks will be at least a couple of weeks behind the curve.

Det it was only lighthearted as I have itchy feet. I already have residency here in Spain and would not return to the UK if they pull out of the EU.
The thing with Malta is it is still under British rule etc etc plus I find it a fascinating island with tons of history but I have never been there.

edit to say and oh and it is warm :-D :-D :-D

If you're happy there, why move? You might have to apply for a Residents Visa or something, but that's about it. If you were to move to another country other than the UK, the same would apply.
Nothing is going to change overnight.

if the UK pull out of the EU. I am looking for my next move. Malta sounds good to me :-D :-D :-D.
Couldn´t afford a similar house as I have now over there and no guarantee the hubby can find work but it doesn´t hurt to research the area just in case <3 ;-)