The Limestone Letter - 12 October 2026

Thursday’s power cut set the terms of the morning: you had as much working day as your laptop had charge. Mine gave out at about eleven, mid-sentence, so I brought my weekly 1:1 forward and we held it on foot instead. Forty minutes along the front in the sunshine, and more decided than in the three hours before it. I’m not recommending Enemalta as a productivity tool. But it has a point.

The rain has been heavy, and in places more than an inconvenience. It also leaves as quickly as it arrives, and within the hour the sun is back to remind you how warm it still is. The supermarkets have gone to pumpkin spice and plastic skeletons, which is their way of insisting it’s mid-October. The island hasn’t agreed to that yet. Eat outside between the showers while it’s still arguing.

At eleven on Saturday morning a cannon fires from the Saluting Battery and more than a hundred yachts from 25 countries cross a line drawn between Valletta and Fort St Angelo. Most of the people watching from the Upper Barrakka will be looking at the big boats. The two to look for are a 42-footer called Artie III and, somewhere behind her, the smallest boat in the fleet.

Christian Ripard is on Artie III. This will be his thirty-sixth Rolex Middle Sea Race, one more than Arthur Podesta's record, and most of the years the race has existed. He won it as skipper in 1996 on Bigfoot, the year the race came back after a thirteen-year gap, won again in 2001 on Strait Dealer, and was aboard when Artie took the overall prize in 2011 and 2014 under Lee Satariano, who is doing his seventeenth. Satariano's explanation, given to the race organisers in June, has the economy of a man who has been asked before: "This is my passion at the end of the day."

The race is 606 nautical miles: out of the Grand Harbour, up the east coast of Sicily, through the Strait of Messina, round Stromboli while it does what Stromboli does, west past the Egadi islands, down past Pantelleria and Lampedusa, and home. Fast boats are back in two days. Small ones take five, and the weather in the Tyrrhenian in the third week of October is the reason the race has the reputation it has.

What makes Ripard's number interesting isn't endurance. It's that the race is a family business. John Ripard Sr, who helped found it in 1968, died in July at 97. On Saturday five of his grandchildren will sail Calypso, a 30-foot Farr co-owned by Sebastian Ripard and Daniel Calascione, in what is probably the smallest boat on the line. The Middle Sea Race gets written up abroad as a glamorous fixture on the yachting calendar, which it is. Seen from the Birgu side, it's something else: a Maltese sailing club's annual argument with the sea, now in its forty-seventh edition, with the same surnames on the crew lists as in the 1970s.

That's the thing to understand about Malta's institutions. The glossy version is for export. Underneath, almost everything that has lasted here has lasted because a small number of families refused to let it stop.

Go on Saturday. Be at the Upper Barrakka by half ten, or better, take the ferry to Birgu and stand on the waterfront under Fort St Angelo, where the boats come past close enough to hear the winches. When they've all gone, the harbour is very quiet for about a minute. Then the tourists go back to their phones, and the race goes north without them.

The lights went out, again, and the compensation portal is open. Probably.

Large parts of Malta and Gozo lost power on Thursday morning. Enemalta's explanation: someone made a mistake during work on a circuit breaker at the Magħtab terminal station, the grid's protection tripped, and it took the regasification plant with it. The Prime Minister called it a genuine human error, said nobody would be censured, and promised three new distribution centres and a further Malta-Gozo connection "soon", without dates. This is the fourth outage story since July, and it matters more than usual because the Sicily interconnector is switched off while works on the second cable continue, so the island is running on its own generation with no back-up from Europe. On the money: the ex-gratia scheme for the summer cuts pays €60 if you lost six to eight hours in July and August, rising to €110 for more than 48, with applications from 1 October to 31 January at exgratiapayment.enemalta.com.mt. Households Enemalta can identify get it as a credit on the bill, so check October's ARMS statement for a line marked Ex-Gratia Payment before you fill anything in. Thursday's outage is not part of that scheme, and nobody has said whether it will be.

Malta's first crematorium, approved on Thursday.

The Planning Board voted 7-2 on 8 October for funeral director Mario Tonna's crematorium, chapel, mortuary and 2,480 niches on about 11,600 square metres of outside-development-zone land beside the Ta' Brija cemetery in Siġġiewi, where the last burial was in 1936. The trick was procedural: it was assessed as a cemetery extension under the 2015 cemeteries policy rather than the 2024 crematoria policy, which confines crematoria to the urban area. Siġġiewi's mayor and the board's NGO member voted against; the council is reported to be appealing, and the Environment and Resources Authority didn't bother to reply to the consultation. A rival Active Group crematorium at Tal-Ħorr in Paola got outline approval two weeks earlier. For residents the practical point is simple. Malta has never had a crematorium, repatriating a body costs thousands, and there are now two permits in a race to be first. Neither can operate yet.

Fewer sales, higher prices, and a quarter of the short lets in two towns.

The NSO's September figures show 974 final deeds of sale, down 11.5 per cent on last September, while the price index for the second quarter rose 6.9 per cent in a year, with apartments up 7.4. Fewer people buying at higher prices is the shape of a market where the owner isn't selling to you; they're letting to tourists. Figures tabled in parliament this week put the licensed short-let stock at 8,748 nationally, with 1,133 in St Paul's Bay, 1,030 in Sliema, 747 in St Julian's and 592 in Valletta; Gozo has 1,612. Those are the licensed ones. If your landlord has started asking about your plans for next summer, this is why.

The Piccolo Padre canopy, a follow-up.

Last week's enforcement notice worked, partly. The awning that had been bolted over the pavement and into the road outside the Centric Hotel on the Sliema Strand came down between 3 and 6 October. The tiled extension and planters stayed, and on the evening of 8 October the tables and chairs were back on it. On Friday Moviment Graffitti said the paving, planters, tables and chairs all had to go or it would consider direct action, and blamed the Planning Authority's chief executive for stopping at a notice. Nothing more had been reported by Sunday evening. The fine schedule, for the record: a minimum of €1,164, then €50 a day after a sixteen-day grace period, capped at €50,000. For a restaurant on the Strand that is not a deterrent. It's a licence fee.

Budget on 26 October, and the cost-of-living rise is about €5.

Clyde Caruana told a pre-budget breakfast on Tuesday that next year's COLA will be "around €5" a week, final figure pending this month's inflation data; this year's is €4.66. No changes to VAT, income tax or social security are planned, energy subsidies of about €400m stay, and the €1,000 workers' bonus from the manifesto probably waits. If you file a Maltese return, the one line to note is that letters to suspected tax evaders go out "in the coming days". Separately, this winter's flu vaccines landed from Italy on Friday, after the contracted importer warned nothing would arrive before January. The health authorities will set the start date, and local councils are being brought in to give the jabs closer to home for the first time.

Everyone who moves here has the same conversation in their first winter. Someone gets ill, nobody knows which door to go through, and three people give three confident answers. Here is the fourth.

Malta runs a two-tier system and you'll use both. Public is free at the point of use and good at the serious end: Mater Dei in Msida is a modern teaching hospital, Gozo General in Victoria is its smaller sibling, and 112 gets an ambulance. The private tier is where you'll go for everything that isn't an emergency, because the public waits for routine things are long and the private prices are, by northern European standards, low.

Who gets the free tier. If you're employed or self-employed and paying Maltese social security, you're covered, and your residence card is the proof; the usual advice is to expect eligibility about three months into work. UK pensioners with an S1 register it at the Entitlement Unit at the old St Luke's Hospital in Gwardamanġa, with the residence card and passport, and get a Certificate of Entitlement. Third-country nationals without contributions can apply for an RHA card, which covers less. Nomad Residence Permit holders get nothing from the state and must hold a year's private insurance paid in advance, covering the EU and the UK; a monthly policy won't pass. Everyone else: private insurance, which for a healthy adult runs to somewhere between €1,500 and €4,000 a year.

The doors. Health centres are the front line: Floriana, Gżira, Mosta, Paola, Qormi, Rabat, Birkirkara, Kirkop, Cospicua and Victoria, with walk-in GP clinics and a central appointment line on 2123 1231. Ring 1400 and a helpline will tell you which level of care you need before you leave the house. For free medicines, you register with one pharmacy under the Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme and collect every 56 days with your yellow or pink card. Routine dental is private; emergency dental is free if you're entitled.

Private, without the brochure. A private GP costs somewhere between €20 and €50 depending on where you are and who you ask, a specialist €50 upwards, a dental check-up about €40. Saint James runs two 24-hour private emergency departments, at Sliema and Żejtun, and is the only private operator licensed for emergency care. Mater Dei's own emergency department is being doubled to 70 cubicles under a €120m expansion begun in August, which tells you what the waits have been like.

The thing nobody says plainly: the public system will save your life and the private system will fix your knee, and the trick is knowing in advance which one you need, because at two in the morning it's a bad time to work it out.

Commando, Misraħ iż-Żjara tal-Papa, Mellieħa. Its building is about 300 years old and the same family has run it since 1930, which included feeding Royal Marines, hence the name. Michelin's inspectors gave it a Bib Gourmand this year and described the room as rustic with exposed stone; what they liked was the cooking, which is Mediterranean without being a list of Mediterranean words.

What to order. Start with the grilled local octopus at €19 or the marinated beef tartare at €18. Pasta is the strength: the carbonara scarpinocc at €16 as a starter or €21 as a main, or the local red prawn Acquerello risotto at €20 or €26. Mains sit at €28 to €36; the local pork belly at €28 and the rump of lamb at €29 are the ones that belong in a village with a church this size. Every dessert is €10. The inspectors' own pick, pappardelle with duck ragù and hazelnuts, isn't on the current menu, so don't ask for it and look disappointed.

Caveats. Dinner only, 6.30pm to 10.30pm, Tuesday to Sunday; closed Monday. Book through TheFork from the website or on 9967 9555. Mellieħa is a drive from almost anywhere, and the square is on the bus route, which stops running before you'll want to leave. Two courses and wine will come in around €60 a head, which for this standard is the right side of fair. Go on a Tuesday in October, when the village has its own residents back.

GALEA CAVALLAZZI PLAYS MOZART AND BEETHOVEN - Tuesday 13 October, 7pm, La Valette Hall, Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta. A piano recital in the old hospital for €10, which is the cheapest serious concert in the capital this month.

PILGRIMAGE OF THE LAST APPARITION - Tuesday 13 October, Our Lady of Fatima church, Gwardamanġa. The Fatima anniversary pilgrimage run by the Dominican parish; the only feast in the week.

YACHTING MALTA COASTAL RACE - Wednesday 14 October, 10am, Marsamxett Harbour. The warm-up race for the Middle Sea Race fleet, visible from the Sliema front and Tigné.

BUSKERFEST - Friday 16 October, 7.30pm, Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta. The Roux Crue, Ofsset Band and Gianluca and Martina on the open-air stage; free.

ARTI - Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October, 8pm, Sunday 18 October, 5pm, Teatru Manoel, Valletta. Yasmina Reza's Art in Albert Marshall's Maltese translation, with Ray Calleja, Mikhail Basmadjian and Sean Buhagiar; €15 to €30, students and seniors from €10.

ROLEX MIDDLE SEA RACE START - Saturday 17 October, 11am, Grand Harbour. Watch free from the Upper Barrakka or the Birgu and Senglea waterfronts. Heritage Malta opens Fort St Elmo at half price from 9am to noon, tickets on the door, and runs a 150-place open-bar morning at Fort St Angelo from 9am at €40, or €35 for members.

LA TRAVIATA - Saturday 17 October, 7.30pm, Teatru tal-Opra Aurora, Victoria, Gozo. Colin Attard conducts the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and the Aurora chorus, with Zuzana Marková as Violetta, in the opera the theatre first staged in 1978, billed as its 50th anniversary special; Italian with English surtitles; €60 to €100.

LITTLE LEPRECHAUNS - Saturday 17 October, 3pm and 5pm, Sunday 18 October, 2pm and 4pm, Studio Theatre, 81 Old Mint Street, Valletta. Irish dance and puppetry for ages four to seven.

IN GUARDIA - Sunday 18 October, 11am, Fort St Elmo, Valletta. The Knights' garrison re-enactment on the parade ground; gates 10am; €10, children €5, or €17 with the fort and War Museum.

SCHLOSS SCHÖNBRUNN ORCHESTRA VIENNA - Sunday 18 October, 7.30pm, Republic Hall, Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta. The Golden Age of Johann Strauss, the Viennese orchestra's first Malta appearance, brought by AD Events.

A Malta Libraries card. Anyone living on the islands can have one, and the official wording includes visitors here for a short period, which is more generous than most countries manage. Sign up at maltalibraries.gov.mt with your residence card or ID, or walk into any public library with it; non-Maltese without a Maltese document email [email protected] first. With it you borrow books, DVDs and e-books, and get internet in every branch. Its useful half is the Libby app: log in with your library number and you have e-books, audiobooks and magazines on your phone, mostly in English, at no extra cost. Half the expats here pay for a Kindle subscription for this.

The Pjazza is where your replies to The Limestone Question end up. Nothing to print yet, so last week's is still open: name the Maltese village you say you'd move to and the one you'd actually move to, and be honest about why the first one never happens. Hit reply and tell us.

After Saturday's hail and flooded streets, a cloudy Monday and a shower or two on Tuesday, then clear skies and 23 to 24 degrees from Wednesday. The race start on Saturday looks dry with light winds, which suits the spectators more than the sailors. The sea is still warmer than the air at breakfast, which is the only forecast anyone here acts on.

Which Maltese word did you start using without ever deciding to, and would you be embarrassed to hear yourself say it in your own country?

Hit reply - we read every response.

Bil-qatra l-qatra timtela l-ġarra. Drop by drop the jar fills. The Maltese version of patience, which on an island with no rivers was never a virtue so much as a water policy.