Incredible but true: for 21% of Maltese, it takes over 30 minutes to reach the nearest green space in contrast to 3% of Europeans
Malta may be the smallest EU country but it is also the country where people have to walk most to reach the nearest open space.
A Eurobarometer survey reveals that the Maltese are the most likely in Europe to report having to walk “more than half an hour” to reach the nearest green space.
While only 3% of all EU respondents reported having to walk more than 30 minutes, in Malta 21% reported having to walk the same distance.
And while 50% of all European live within a 5-minute distance of the nearest green space, in Malta only 22% report living in such proximity to green spaces.
In this aspect only the Romanians, 16% of which live within a five-minute walk of a green space, are worse off than the Maltese. In contrast 85% of Finns live within a five-minute walk of a green space. Even in Cyprus which has a similar climate to Malta, 42% live five minutes away from a green space.
The survey shows that 24% of Maltese respondents live between 11 to 20 minutes away from a green space.
A large majority of European respondents (85%) say that they are satisfied with the quality of the green space nearest to their home. In Malta only 62% report being satisfied.
And while only 2% of all EU respondents are very dissatisfied with the quality of the nearest green space, dissatisfaction runs at 16% in Malta.
Slovenians are the most satisfied about the quality of the nearest green space in Europe with 68% reporting being very satisfied followed by the Danes 63% of which are also very satisfied. At the other end of the scale the Maltese are the most likely to report being very dissatisfied (16%).
This information emerged from a survey on fairness and the European green transition, which was conducted in all EU member states in June, with the results being published on Monday.