Larnaca Municipal Council has blocked a company from closing Zouhouri Square for a ticketed event, prompting the organiser to cancel after rejecting the municipality’s condition that the event be free and open to all.
The decision has divided the city, with residents taking to social media to criticise the municipality. The company behind the cancelled event argues it had been permitted to close the square and charge for entry on at least two previous occasions.
In a clarifying statement, the municipality said the council had not cancelled any event or application.
It acknowledged that in previous years the council had approved the use of public squares for events with restricted access through fencing and ticket charges, but said this had always been an explicitly temporary arrangement pending a final policy decision, and had already drawn significant complaints from some residents.
The municipality said the council recently considered applications from three private businesses for events at Zouhouri Square, some of which included restricted public access and ticket charges.
“The majority of the Municipal Council judged that the practice of granting public squares with restrictions on free public access cannot continue. It was therefore decided that all three events may take place in the said squares, on condition that there is no fencing of the area and no admission charge,” the statement said.
The municipality added that organisers may recoup part of their costs through food and drink sales, subject to obtaining the required permits. “From that point on, it is up to each private business to decide whether to proceed with its event, on the basis of the Municipal Council’s decisions,” it said.
The council said it had “repeatedly demonstrated that it operates with transparency and supports, within the scope of its responsibilities, private initiatives that respect and comply with the decisions of the Municipal Council, as well as with the public interest and the residents of Larnaca.”