As of last Sunday, shops across the Valencia region are allowed to open on Sundays once again and are now allowed to remain open, if they choose to, until 12 January 2020.
However, it is still only those shops which fall into areas defines as being of “tourist interest” which have been given freedom to open, after the regional government decided to restrict Sunday opening hours.
Although one of the reasons given for forcing shops to close was to ensure that workers were given some time off, many of the retailers reported that the result was actually job losses, and now they are allowed to open on Sundays once again (for now) the result will be the creation of hundreds of extra jobs.
A representative of the main retail association in Valencia, Joaquin Cervero from ANGED, said that, “thanks to the internet, today anyone can buy whatever they want, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, which is an irreversible process that should lead to a reordering of trade policy, combining physical and digital commerce and engaging in trade in this goal, not forgetting the great source of revenue brought by the tourists who visit us.”
Some larger stores had already been given special dispensation earlier in the month, but for shoppers living in the areas served by the likes of the Zenia Boulevard and Habaneras, the winter months had been a frustrating time when these flagship centres had been closed, other than for food, but just outside the area, in Murcia, places like Dos Mares saw the benefits as shoppers took a short trip over the regional border and were able to continue to shop on a Sunday.
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