The removal of the cement blocks from the square area of the Castle in the port of Kato Paphos, an issue that has recently been opened by the Municipality of Paphos and other city officials, will not be implemented immediately. The very serious and surprising developments that have been bothering the Municipality of Paphos since the beginning of the year after the Phedonos case and now the upcoming big event with the Paphos Opera, make any promotion of this issue within 2026 out of the program and any decisions are now postponed to the summer of 2027.
This is stated by the information of "F", despite the fact that the competent state departments had become recipients of a request from the local authorities. The position of the authorities at the time was that given the winter season that passed, the cement blocks should remain in place in the coming months to ensure the proper operation of the harbor during the winter months and their movement, if such a decision is made official, would take place unhindered this summer. However, the earthquake caused by the development of the local authority with the suspended Mayor left many issues on the sidelines, including this one.
At the same time, the arrival of the tourist season and now the launch of this year's Pafos Aphrodite Festival at the beginning of September de facto cancel any movement and therefore the issue is transferred to the summer of 2027.
The issue of cement blocks protecting the area of Kato Paphos Castle was opened after the corresponding removal of these materials from the areas of Paphos airport, where they had been placed for security reasons in recent years. On the occasion of that removal, the Municipality of Paphos and other bodies stressed that the cement blockades in the port of Paphos have a life many times longer than those moved by the airport, since for more than 20 years they have been placed on the wall that extends along the land area, in order to protect the Castle Square from the waves of the open sea behind it. They also ask for their removal, highlighting the unsightliness of the existence of these huge volumes next to a monument of world cultural heritage and in a wider natural environment of unique beauty.
The municipal authority stressed in its performances that the cement blocks create negative impressions and comments from the thousands of daily visitors to the area and emphasizes that even in the summer months, when there is no issue with the waves, they are not removed as originally agreed when they were first installed.
Paphos requests their permanent removal and the preparation of studies by the competent state authorities to take other, more appropriate measures to protect the land area of the Castle from severe weather phenomena. The fact that the concrete blocks continue to remain there, it is pointed out, only reduces the unique natural beauty and the visibility of the Castle itself, while also preventing visitors from having an unobstructed view of the open sea.
Now the decision of the competent state bodies will be taken from 2027 onwards.
