Malta's Supermoon Viewing Night a Great Success

Malta’s Supermoon viewing night was declared an unqualified success by the Energy Minister this morning.  While citizens of many countries across the world had their views of the extra-large moon impaired by light pollution, the Maltese government solved this problem by simply shutting off the power between 8 and 10 PM last night.

“We want to emphasise Malta as a country of natural beauty”, read the statement from the Energy Ministry, “and how better to do that than by switching off all the lights, mela.  Maltese and foreign tourists were able to enjoy the fantastic Supermoon as nature intended, and will have beautiful photos that will last a lifetime.  As long as they remembered to charge their cameras earlier in the day.”

Small business owners were less enthusiastic about the government imposed blackout, with some estimates suggesting that the absence of power may have cost the local economy upwards of ten million euros.

When asked to comment, a government spokeswoman replied that “Restaurants don’t need electricity to make a salad, and there is nothing more romantic than a candle-lit dinner.  We need to show more initiative in this country sometimes.”

In other news, the Ministry of Transport was unavailable for comment on the rumour that Air Malta may dispense with airplanes in future to become the world’s first Zeppelin-only airline, thus reducing noise pollution in the skies above the island.