Parliament extends deadline for unlicensed hotels with special permit scheme

Hotels and tourist premises operating without a full license got yet another reprieve on Thursday, as parliament voted through a law allowing them to acquire a ‘special operating permit’.

The businesses had been granted until November 2025 to get all their paperwork in order – compliance with fire protection as well as sanitary requirements – but the vast majority did not meet the deadline.

MPs have now granted them a one-year extension – to November 2026.

Under the bill tabled by Disy MP Kyriacos Hadjiyianni...