I’ll start writing bit by bit about life in Cyprus. After all, we’ve already lived here for three and a half years.
Cyprus, like many warm countries, is quite laid-back. People start working pretty early, but after lunch, most establishments are closed, and at best, they might be working but not serving customers. This applies not only to government offices—banks follow the same pattern. I remember being really frustrated at first: how is it possible that after 1 p.m., I can’t go to the bank? Especially considering that back in Minsk, my bank branch not only worked late into the evening, but on Saturdays and Sundays, there was always at least one clerk available. On Sundays, Carl!
There are plenty of examples of this shortened workday. The café across from the office does great during lunch, with our staff and PwC employees from next door heading there. But by around 3:30 p.m., it’s already closed. Want a late snack? You’ll have to find somewhere else.
But on the other hand, restaurants open late. Some open at 6 p.m., but if you show up at that time, you’ll be met with utter surprise by the staff. Sure, they’ll serve you, but they’ll give you sideways looks. The normal time for locals to have dinner is 9 p.m. or later.
In the evenings and on weekends, coffee shops (which primarily serve just coffee) are packed. For example, within a half-kilometer radius from my home, there are about ten coffee shops, and on Friday nights, they’re all filled to the brim. Coffee in Cyprus is practically a fetish. I could easily write a separate post about it.
This relaxed work schedule is found almost everywhere. In August, many businesses, which don’t work too hard to begin with, close down for 2-4 weeks. These are the official summer holidays, coinciding with the peak heat.
Another topic that concerns Cypriots, even at the government level, is whether stores should be open on weekends. I remember when I first started working for a Dresden company in the early 2000s, I was frustrated that stores in Dresden didn’t operate on weekends. How could that be? When are you supposed to shop? Germans would leave work early on Fridays to stock up for the week. Eventually, the rules relaxed, and now at least Saturday shopping is possible.
But what about Cyprus? Here, the government is very protective of small businesses. They’ve actually banned weekend trading. You may ask, where’s the logic in that? The reasoning is this: large supermarkets can afford to operate from early morning until late evening, even on weekends. But small, private shops typically have just the owner and their family as staff, and they need rest on weekends. So, the argument is that greedy capitalists with their supermarkets steal all the customers on weekends, leaving small shop owners with none. If someone fills up two shopping carts on Sunday, they won’t need to visit a small kiosk for anything later.
To protect small businesses, the government decided to ban weekend trading for everyone. Well, not exactly—the ban was issued, but then the president declared it unconstitutional and said the minister had no right to impose such a law. What followed was months of legal wrangling while the constitutional court debated whether she had the authority, rather than focusing on whether businesses should operate on weekends. Meanwhile, the ban remained in effect, with heavy fines for violators. Some shops closed (for instance, in Nicosia’s main mall, only the cinema and food court were open), while a large supermarket chain, Alfamega, ignored the ban and kept operating—making a healthy profit even after paying the fines.
Eventually, the ban was overturned (the minister indeed didn’t have the right to pass such laws without the president’s approval). But do you think the issue was forgotten? Lawmakers continue to fight for the rights of small businesses to make money while working less. It’s gotten to the point where one of the key questions in the upcoming presidential election is whether shops should be open on weekends. Only the current president has said they should be (if I were voting, he’d have my vote already!).
And so, life in Cyprus continues in this laid-back manner. The key is not to catch this “relaxation virus” and let yourself unwind too much.
P.S. Since this is my first post about life in Cyprus, feel free to comment on what topics you’d like to hear more about!
