Editor’s note: This article was first published in April 2011, as a news item about an April 2011 proposal by Spain’s Ministry of Economy. It does not say whether the measure was adopted, and current rules vary by region.
Spain’s Ministry of Economy wants to make longer opening hours compulsory for stores larger than 300 square metres. With this measure, reported in ABC, the government aims to boost consumer spending and, although it hasn’t said so, to increase the number of job contracts along the way, given that the plan is to extend opening hours from 12 hours to 14 and to raise the number of holiday openings from 8 to 12.
Unsurprisingly, the measure hasn’t gone down well with certain trades: until now, some small shops took advantage of the hours when the big shopping centres were closed to increase their sales.
On the other hand, while a large store will have to hire more staff to cover the new hours (which would supposedly reduce unemployment), it’s also true that a small business owner with a shop inside a shopping centre may not have the means to hire another person or pay staff more overtime.
The measure may have been prompted by comments about the fall in consumer spending in Spain. It was even claimed that spending in Spain had dropped because of limits on opening hours.
In this case I’ll refrain from giving my opinion, since I know in advance that some people will fully agree with the measure and see it as positive, while others, along with some shops, will think it will hurt them. What is clear is that with these longer opening hours there’s no pleasing everyone.
Featured image: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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