Sliema (Maltese: Tas-Sliema) is a town in the Central Region of Malta. It is a centre for shopping, restaurants and café life. Tas-Sliema is also a major commercial and residential area and houses several quality hotels. Tas-Sliema, which means 'peace, comfort', was once a quiet fishing village on the peninsula across Marsamxett Harbour from Valletta. Now Sliema and the coastline up to neighbouring St. Julian's constitutes Malta's main coastal resort; as a result, Sliema has been ringed with modern apartment blocks and become engorged with traffic in recent decades causing protest from the Sliema Residents Association.