Outcry from businesses about music restrictions

The police operation on Friday night at entertainment venues in the town centre infuriated business owners in the food and beverage sector, who are calling it “persecution” and are warning of protests during Easter Week!

Everything happened at lightning speed shortly after 11 p.m., when a police task force recorded music curfew violations at one business after another on Evgeniou Voulgareos and Capodistriou streets (note: not all establishments), arresting and filing charges against representatives of five businesses.

The Restaurant and Catering Association reacted immediately, visiting the Police Department at midnight. The arrested individuals were later released and will be referred to justice, either through a fast-track trial or by receiving a date for a regular court hearing, according to the procedures in place.

Meanwhile, frustration among business owners has been mounting, with plans for protests on Palm Sunday and during Easter Week. There are even thoughts of shutting down businesses, or at least organising demonstrations and strong protests. Their message is being captured in a poster currently being designed, which depicts the situation in the town—with cars parked everywhere, unresolved issues of cleanliness—and a closing remark that says local governance has reduced the management of everyday life to music curfews and enforcement against nightlife venues, essentially targeting them.

In fact, the president of the Catering Association, Vassilis Vassilakis, immediately contacted the deputy mayor responsible, Chalikopoulos, expressing his protest. Meanwhile, Mayor Stefanos Poulimenos is being urged to defuse the tension, possibly by meeting with business owners—perhaps as soon as Sunday.

The issue has even drawn the attention of national media, especially due to Corfu’s key role in the country’s tourism sector, and with Easter and the summer tourist season approaching.

GIORGOS KATSAITIS

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