Marsaxlokk is a traditional fishing village located in the south-eastern part of Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, with a population of 3,277 people (NSO Report, Dec 2008). The village’s name comes from marsa, which means "port" and xlokk, which is the local name for south east. The word is related to the name for the dry sirocco

Sirocco

Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind...

 wind that blows from the Sahara, comparable to the equivalent Catalan

Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...

 word, "xaloc".
It was in the "bay of the sirocco" (Xlokk) that the first Phoenicians landed and set up trading posts on Malta, during the ninth century BC.