Illegally operating hotels given further grace

MPs on Thursday grudgingly voted to grant yet another extension to hotels and tourist accommodation premises currently operating without a full permit, allowing these businesses to set their paperwork in order by end of 2028.

The government bill passed with 25 votes for, one against, and 15 abstentions.

Disy MP Kyriacos Hadjiyianni, who abstained from the vote in the House plenum, said that successive extensions do not solve the problem.

“You can’t have some 850 units operating without a framework,” he remarked.

Akel’s Costas Costa complained that three extensions had already been granted to the hotels previously.

“Every time we say ‘this is the last time’. Today not even 25 per cent of the premises are licensed.

“Some of them do have legitimate problems [obtaining a full permit], but others don’t do anything because they know they’ll just get another extension.”

The law now passed gives hundreds of hotels and tourist accommodation providers until December 31, 2028 to continue operating without a full licence, as the Deputy Ministry of Tourism seeks more time to resolve long-running planning irregularities.

The legislation extends a transitional regime for businesses that have yet to secure an operating permit, while requiring them to meet specific safety and health conditions in the meantime.

According to the deputy ministry, the measure is intended to allow such premises to remain open within a defined timeframe while they regularise urban planning violations and comply with requirements related to safety.

In March, the deputy ministry told MPs that 167 out of a total of 733 hotels and tourist accommodation units had so far been licensed, equivalent to 22.8 per cent.

That left 566 units still without a licence.