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THE sun also rises over Paceville on a Sun- day morning. The waves of St George's Bay, together with piss-filled beer cans and emp- ty takeaway boxes, glimmer in the pale or- ange sunlight. The soft morning light also serves as an alarm clock for those who went a little too crazy the night before and fell asleep on the cold, stone-tiled streets. We had spent five hours crawling through the sticky streets of Malta's nightlife capital. You might think Valletta is where the is- land's culture is most evident, but you hav- en't seen a thing until you've seen Paceville. The idea was Jaelle's. She wanted to see a different side of Paceville, beyond the drunken crowds and deafening music. After all, how many people know what it's like to be a police officer, an AFM soldier, a club- ber, a horse, or even a rat scurrying through the streets on a Saturday night? And so, we got into a cab. Welcome to Paceville As you approach the entrance of a Pace- ville club, you might find yourself rummag- ing through your bag in a drunken attempt to locate your ID card, which is supposed- ly part of the routine. While some bounc- ers will ask to see it, others will wave you through without so much as a glance. It would be wrong to make any sweeping statements but, personally, we were let into every club we entered alone with little more than a smile and a nod. Immediately upon entering, you are greet- ed by the smell of vapes and vodka, the scents of which combine in the most mar- vellous way in the heavy, at times, poorly ventilated places. The sensory wonderland is only enhanced by the music, which seemingly consists of Pitbull, Cardi B, and some sort of Spanish rap played on repeat for seven hours, turn- ing the very concept of conversation into an extreme sport. Although, to be fair, I doubt you're walking into a club for an intellectu- ally stimulating conversation. Drinks are flowing, and judging by the aforementioned sticky floors, a fair amount of alcohol never makes it past the glass. Leaning against the bar was a wide-eyed man, looking up at a young woman who was attempting to pay for a rum and Coke with a €100 bill. There you have it, the perfect place to do MDMA, and conveniently also one of the easiest spots on the island to find it, but you didn't hear that from us. In fact, one of us is about 99% sure they watched a man slide what appeared to be a tab of acid off his tongue. And then there are the toilets. One visit is enough to make you consider walking out of the club and pissing behind a wall. Soggy rolls of toilet paper plaster the floors, which are best navigated without looking down. "Does anyone have a tampon?" a girl yelled out from inside one of the two stalls. "Shove a tissue up there!" the woman who sat beside me responded. All the while, the music keeps thumping, the girls keep crying, and strangers become best friends who will have forgotten each other by tomorrow. The beauty of woman- hood is encapsulated in a nightclub bath- room. Not a nightclub, officer! But beyond the loud music, overflowing drinks and questionable toilet conditions lies a more technical problem—licensing. According to police officers we spoke to, many establishments that operate much like nightclubs are not actually licensed as such. Instead, they operate as "bars with amplified music." As ridiculous as it is, it's a distinction that creates considerable chal- lenges when it comes to enforcement. Although the law provides a definition of a nightclub, officers explained that estab- lishments licensed as bars are not subject to the same obligations. This means that, even when police identify practices that would otherwise constitute breaches of nightclub regulations, their hands are often tied by the absence of specific legal requirements. It's 7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 OCTOBER 2026 FEATURE A very average night out in Paceville From sticky nightclub f loors and questionable toilet encounters to rats, police and ambulance call- outs, MaltaToday spends a Saturday night on patrol in Paceville to discover what really goes on in Malta's nightlife capital EVA BRANNON & JAELLE BORG ebrannon@mediatoday.com.mt jborg@mediatoday.com.mt CONTINUES NEXT PAGE >