| There is a narrow basin between the Eastern ands Western Mediterranean where Malta rises from the waves, a smattering of rocks which serve as stepping stones between the cultures of Southern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Malta has seen the rule of Car-thage followed by the Punic wars, the rise of Islam, the Crusades and the rise and fall of the French and British Empires. Throw in a little Byzantine and Norman rule, an Arago-nese throne, and you have the heady Maltese history cocktail with which to give visitors to these shores a welcome surprise. In its heyday after the opening of the Suez canal in the mid-eighteenth century, a period as a British protectorate followed the Second World War, with independence finally coming in 1964.
The waters around Malta are so clear that divers enjoy thirty-metre vision. There are many cliffs, but also some of the finest sandy beaches in the Mediterranean, most notably at Gozo, site of the Azure Window natural arch. From Anchor and Paradise bays in the north to Peter’s pool and Pretty bay in the south, Ramla bay and blue lagoon on Gozo, Malta is a poem of a place, which enjoys a temperate, sunny clime.
There are no local income taxes, rates or council tax to pay, although a minimum property purchase price is imposed for non-residents (in the region of 75,000 Euros for a house and 50,000 Euros for an apartment) and only one property may be owned at any one time. Government approval is required to rent your property out, which will fetch returns of 5 or 6%. Most Maltese speak excellent English. Watch out for the mooted changeover to the Euro in 2008 – now’s definitively the time to buy.
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