It's funny that you have dumped both into one bag. I think they differ a lot, not only language wise but size wise as well.
I lived in Malta for a few years and left 6 years ago. I was living there when there was still Maltese Lira and when they shifted overnight from MTL to EUR. I don't have to say that Malta was not that popular at that time, especially that with all the tax optimisations solutions worldwide, nobody has seen a need to physically move. It has quickly gained popularity and made a lot of betting related companies and people moving there.
Malta has become really congested, especially in the prime living areas (which are also touristic areas...) such as Sliema, St Julians or Portomaso. I would personally not live anywhere else in Malta but that's me. All the top restaurants, nightlife, shopping revolves around these three locations. There is no way to get the citizenship, unless through marriage or investment. It's english speaking island (in majority and officially) but you will not find a single local english speaking radio station or TV channel. Believe it or not but despite the good weather, there is not much to do if you have kids. It lacks greenery, parks, attractions. I went to the cinema in St Julians once and they made a break in a middle of the movie - I thought something broke, no - that's normal. I have never went again.
If you see the way things are handled in Malta, you really need to relax as nobody rush with anything and the quality of everything is questionable. Flight network is good, you are in the EU, internet is very fast and reasonably priced. Lack of proper British schools with British teachers. There are maybe 2 good schools and the teachers come from different parts of the world with the majority what seem to be or sound - Maltese/Italian.
I used to pay €2.500 per month for 3BR apartment in a prime location in Tigne Seafront - Sliema, with a very big terrace and great sea views overlooking Valletta, without utilities. This was 6 years back so I guess it is more expensive now. A nice modern building with the lift of the size preventing any social distancing measures. My neighbour downstairs had kids and stroller and she was never able to fit it inside the lift. So just think of cheaper or older buildings. I once was in a super tiny lift where you had to hold a button to go up or down
The weather is nice majority of the year, but for me the sea is not swimmable until June and it is already cold in November. It gets very cold inside the buildings in the winter - really cold, there is no proper insulation or heating. My €2.500 apartment had all the modern AC but it seems someone did not calculate properly the external AC units power, because it was impossible to cool or heat all the rooms altogether - speaking of quality you have a perfect example here, modern prestigious apartment with screwed AC.
The technician from local telco came to fix the internet and he removed the RJ45 sockets to leave the cables hanging. When I asked him what he is doing, he said they do it like that to prevent any leakage... Sometimes I didn't know if I should cry or laugh. I used to laugh and take it for a funny experience but you should get my point by now. I have a lot of great memories and friends from Malta but now with kids I would probably never choose to live there.
