Pafos Press 9 September 2025
The opening hours of entertainment centers are being changed by legislative regulation, with the aim – as the president of the Pancyprian Association of Entertainment Centers, Nikos Vassiliou, claims – of modernizing and rationalizing a framework characterized by chronic disorder and ambiguity. Speaking to Protoselido, Mr. Vassiliou said that the only ones who are reacting are “the well-known people who always want something else”. As he characteristically said, “the something else is not within the framework of rationalizing outdated legislation. They want, in essence, to outlaw. In other words, they don’t want hours, they don’t want there to be order in a sector that has been anarchic for years”.
According to the president of the Association, the new bill sets clear hours for each category of dining and entertainment venue. Restaurants will operate until 1:30am (previously they could remain open until 3:30, but with music only until midnight). Bars and beer halls until 2:30. Music and dance clubs, bouzouki, discotheques and cabarets until 5:00am. Wedding events until 1:30, provided that they are held in insulated halls that belong to the category of entertainment centers. The general operation of catering from 8:00 in the morning until 1:30am. Mr. Vassiliou stressed that "behind the protests there is the appeal for illegality", as, as he said, some businessmen want to convert taverns into music and dance clubs or discotheques without the necessary permits and conditions. “We have no objection,” he said. “Do you want to become a music tavern? Yes, as long as the law allows it, you will not be a nuisance, you have an enclosed building and you have a permit. But not with improvised constructions and without any respect for the legislation.” The president of the Association emphasized that the bill is the product of an agreement with all the organized members of the sector – catering, entertainment, banquet centers – who want clear rules. “Both catering is within our activities, and entertainment, and weddings. We all agree. All we ask is for there to be an operating framework that will put an end to the disorder that has prevailed until now,” he noted.