Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishAn Instagram famous island which has been hailed as the most beautiful in the Mediterranean is now a rat infested nightmare that ‘resembles a run-down favela in a forsaken country’.Across the world, the tiny Maltese island of Comino has gained notoriety for it’s beautiful light blue waters and its famous limestone cove known as the Blue Lagoon. The idyllic island’s popularity has been bolstered by social media influencers flocking to Comino to get the perfect picture and by its appearance in hit Hollywood films such as Troy.However, despite being described as the ‘most beautiful spot in the Mediterranean’ by Malta’s tourism authority, Comino is now being devastated by overtourism.During the summer, boatloads of up to 10,000 tourists are dropped off every day who are then crammed into the packed bay. Makeshift bars playing loud music surround the guests serving alcoholic drinks and snacks which are then left as litter which provides an easy food source for Comino’s ballooning rat population.Campaigners in Malta are now fighting to protect Comino, which is supposed to be a protected nature reserve and a bird sanctuary, from future devastation. One group is Moviment Graffitti, a civil society organisation, who are campaigning for radical change to the way the island is managed. A large group of tourists at the Blue Lagoon. Despite being described as the ‘most beautiful spot in the Mediterranean’ by Malta’s tourism authority, Comino is now being devastated by overtourism The idyllic island’s popularity has been bolstered by social media influencers flocking to Comino to get the perfect picture A rat spotted on Comino. Litter left by the thousands of tourist that visit the island each day has caused the rat population to balloon And in 2022 they staged a huge protest where they forcibly removed sun loungers and parasols. A member of the group Andre Callus described the current situation as ‘unbearable’.’For the people of Gozo and Malta, it’s a nightmare and they don’t go there anymore. Comino has been taken over by intense commercial interests. It is a very small place and yet there are 11 kiosks selling food and drink. They want to extract as much profit as possible from the island,’ he told The Daily Telegraph.Maltese NGOs have alleged that a study into how many tourists the island could support was buried by the Maltese authority but many locals the damage of overtourism is clear to see.Writing to newspapers in the small island nation, residents have blasted the state of Comino.One said the famous Blue Lagoon now looked like ‘some run-down favela in some forsaken country’.Another wrote: ‘This once beautiful island has been turned into a circus and I wouldn’t go near it again if you paid me.’The government of Malta is trying to strike a delicate balance between protecting the natural beauty of Comino and supporting Malta’s tourism sector – which makes up 15 per cent of the country’s GDP During the summer, boatloads of up to 10,000 tourists are dropped off every day who are then crammed into the packed bay One campaigner has described the current amount of tourists being allowed to visit Comino as ‘unbearable’ Ian Borg, the minister for tourism, has proposed halving the number of daily visitors allowed to visit the island from 10,000 to 5,000.To enforce this law, the government will need to check with commercial boat operators to see how many passengers they carry and how many trips they make each day.Mr Borg has also pledged to review the number of bars that are allowed to operate and to have public toilets installed.However campaigners such as Birdlife Malta would like Comino’s status as a nature reserve to be respected with rubbish removed daily and a cap on tourists.Comino is symbolic of the wider issues tourism are causing for Malta, the island nation which has a population of just over 500,000 saw a whopping 3.6million visitors last year.To accommodate the tourists, huge coastal developments have been approved which campaigners claim are damaging Malta’s environment irreversible.Mark Sultana, the chief executive officer of BirdLife Malta, hopes that the state of the Blue Lagoon is a wake up call for politicians and developers alike.’The cow has been milked for too long,’ he said.
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