Tomorrow, 489 licenced bars will have to pull down their shutters until December due to new government restrictive measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. 

From tomorrow, all bars and clubs must remain closed until 1 December, and whilst snack bars and kiosks can remain open, it is forbidden for them to offer or sell any alcohol to clients and must remain closed between 11pm and 5am. 

The announcement of the new measures brought about confusion amongst catering establishments, with some bars who serve food unsure of whether they are allowed to remain open or not. The legal notice published only states that “all bars and clubs shall not open for business and shall remain closed until 6am of December 1, 2020.” 

The Malta Independent contacted the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) to clarify which establishments are allowed to remain open and those which must close on Thursday. 

“The classification of each class type is included in the license of every business. If you have a snack bar licence you may operate till 23:00 without selling alcoholic beverages,” a MTA spokesperson explained. 

There are currently 489 establishments that can serve only alcohol, while there are 1,737 establishments that can serve both alcohol and food which are licenced by MTA. The figure includes all snack bars, restaurants and kiosks. 

“All catering establishments, other than restaurants, will be affected by this new measure”, the spokesperson said. 

Therefore any establishment with a snack bar or kiosk licence is allowed to operate but is under no circumstance allowed to serve alcohol. 

As stated by the legal notice, all establishments licenced as bars – with the number of licenced bars being 489 – must remain closed on Thursday.