Parking bays in Malta are marked in different colours and the colours mean something.
Get it wrong and you come back to a ticket, or to a car that has been towed.
White bays are free
An ordinary white bay is open to anyone and costs nothing.
Most street parking on the islands is white. Parking is free almost everywhere and impossible in the places you want to be.
There is no meter and no ticket to display. If a bay is white and unmarked, park in it.
Green bays are for residents
Green bays are reserved for residents of that locality holding a CVA or local council permit.
They are common in Sliema, Gzira, St Julian’s and Valletta, and they are enforced.
A hire car left in one is asking for trouble. The permit is tied to the resident, not to the visitor.
Yellow means no
A yellow line or a yellow-hatched bay means no parking at all.
Near a junction, a bus stop or a garage door it will be taken seriously and the tow truck does come.
A white garage door with a number painted on it is a private entrance. Blocking one is the fastest way to be towed.
Blue bays and loading bays
Blue bays are for drivers with a disability permit displayed on the windscreen.
A Blue Badge issued in another EU country is recognised here. Display it face up where it can be read.
Some towns also have loading bays with times painted on the road. Those times are real and they are checked in the mornings.
Quick reference
- White: free, anyone.
- Green: residents with a permit only.
- Yellow: no parking.
- Blue: disability permit displayed.
- Painted times: loading only during those hours.
Valletta and the CVA charge
Driving into Valletta during the day carries a separate Controlled Vehicular Access charge, read by camera at the gates.
It is billed by number plate, so a hire car bill reaches you weeks later through the rental company.
The car parks outside the walls at Floriana and MCP are the easier answer. The lift from the Grand Harbour side drops you inside the city.
The practical answer
Do not drive into Valletta, Mdina or a village core. Park at the edge and walk in.
Mdina is closed to traffic without a permit. Village cores are narrow enough that a wrong turn means reversing out.
Beware of anyone who waves you into a space and asks for a coin. Bay parking on the street is free and nobody is entitled to charge for it.
