Why the crackdown on pavement cafés?

Sir,
I live near Ayia Napa but rarely go into the town during the season.

Recently, a coffee house opened near the harbour which sells excellent coffee, and I’ve taken to spending the odd hour or so there several times a week while watching people ambling up and down the pedestrianised area, or observing the odd fishing boat passing beyond the small church.

It’s set amongst the usual souvenir stores and snack bars (advertising ‘Full English Breakfasts’ etc.) but the music is at a volume that allows conversation and tends to be Greek rather than the pervasive UK/US fare that many owners seem to assume that everyone wants to listen to. Usually the area is populated by older visitors, many with children.

I was there this week when the local police visited and issued fines.

Until this year, licences were issued allowing the restaurant owners to put tables outside their establishments. This has now stopped. If this continues, a couple of dozen businesses will not survive. What appears to be acceptable in most parts of the world (for example, Paris is famous for it’s pavement cafés) cannot be tolerated in Ayia Napa.

It appears that the local council has attempted to follow the example set in Faliraki last year when, after the death of a tourist, the police clamped down on the excesses of the trade. Strangely, the local police are allowing the bars in the Square of Ayia Napa where these same activities take place (including the odd stabbing) to operate as normal and are focussing on the quieter, family-orientated sections of the town.
What message is this sending the world?

Paul Robert
Ayia Napa

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