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LIFE IN SPAIN

Why is everything in Spain closed on Sundays?

Anyone who's lived or holidayed in Spain will have noticed that many shops and businesses close on Sundays. But is that just a reflection of the laid-back lifestyle, as many assume, or are there other reasons? And what impact does this have on the Spanish economy and society?

Published: 24 April 2022 11:55 CEST
Why is everything in Spain closed on Sundays?
Many foreigners in Spain find it incovenient that most shops close on a Sunday. But what's behind this tradition? (Photo by Gabriel BOUYS / AFP)

Take a stroll through any small or medium-sized Spanish town on a Sunday, and you’ll notice that the majority of its high-street shops and businesses are shuttered up. Even in bigger cities, many still close on Sunday.

Often people assume that the Sunday closures are a reflection of Spain’s laidback lifestyle, and that Spaniards still see Sundays as a day of rest. While it is true that most Spaniards do still use Sundays to relax, eat, and spend time with family, it’s not entirely that simple.

Others assume it’s a legacy of Spain’s Catholic culture, and that everyone’s at mass, but that’s become less and less true in recent decades, and the reality is that Spain’s Sunday trading laws are often the reason behind the closures, depending on where you are.

READ MORE: Spanish habits that foreigners just don’t get 

Sunday Trading

Sunday trading laws are not unique to Spain. Many countries around the world place limits on which, how, for how long, and how often shops and businesses can open on Sundays.

But many countries across Europe, like Portugal, Italy, and the U.K, have more liberal trading hours legislation. In fact, the European Commission ranked Spain as the country with the second highest number of restrictions on commercial trade in the EU.

A map of which countries where large supermarkets are generally open on non-holiday Sundays. Green: Large supermarkets and shopping centers are generally open on Sundays. Blue: Large supermarkets are allowed to be open for 6 hours or less on Sundays. Red: Large supermarkets are generally closed on Sundays. Map: Imre Kristoffer Eilertsen/Wikipedia (CC BY 4.0)

Spain’s law

First things first, as with many policies in Spain, Sunday trading legislation is delegated to the autonomous communities. Article 1 of Law 1/2004, which outlines rules on business hours more broadly, gives businesses the liberty to determine the days and times of their commercial activity, however it must work within the framework of the law and the rules of the autonomous community.

That is to say, each regional government has the final say on its Sunday opening hours, and in many parts of Spain Sunday opening is allowed once a month – normally at the beginning of the month – and on Sundays during special shopping seasons like Christmas and Easter, but also during sales periods.

This means that many businesses aren’t able to open on Sundays, even if they wanted to. Certain sectors, however, like hospitality, can open without restrictions, as can pharmacies. According to the law, the businesses free to open as and when they please are: 

  •  Hospitality establishments and bakeries
  •  Petrol stations
  •  Florists
  • Shops at transport stations
  • Smaller convenience stores, provided that they meet the criteria set out in the law

In a strange quirk on Spanish legislation, commercial establishments smaller than 300 square metres have total freedom of trading schedules across Spain, regardless of what is says on their regional statute book.

Tourist areas

Tourist areas are often given exceptions to deal with demand. Shops in towns and areas declared as tourist-based are allowed to open every Sunday. That grouping, as of a few years ago, includes:

  • Downtown Madrid
  • Valencia municipality 
  • Zaragoza 
  • Downtown Palma de Mallorca 
  • Most of the Catalan coastal with the exception of Barcelona
  • Most of the Murcia’s coastal area
  • The Andalusian and Valencian coastal areas

Equally, any area with a World Heritage Site or property of cultural or national interest is allowed to open, as are shops close to ports on tourist cruise routes, and areas whose main attraction is shopping tourism.

A woman walks past a closed shop in Madrid. Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)

READ MORE: Are Spaniards really that bad at queueing? 

Community rules

Businesses that are not included in the exempted sectors outlined in national law, as above, must abide by the trading calendar outlined every year by their regional government. This means there’s quite a bit of variation in Sunday trading laws around Spain. In Madrid, for example, all businesses have been able to open, if they wish, for 24 hours a day, 365 days a week, since 2021.

Compare that with the stricter restrictions in Basque Country, for example, where no big business can open on Sundays, nor holidays, and are often closed on Saturday afternoons too.

Generally speaking, the number of Sundays autonomous communities can play with is sixteen spread throughout the calendar years. However, based on each region’s unique economic circumstances, the number of authorised Sunday openings can be tinkered with, whether by increasing or decreasing it. You can usually find your region’s Sunday opening scheduled for the whole year online.

The economic impact

The COVID-19 pandemic shutdown sparked debate about the economic consequences of Spain’s Sunday trading laws. Business groups called on the government to relax some of the restrictions when faced with financial annihilation, and requested freedom to open when they please, as was allowed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. 

With many businesses having closed their doors for the last time during the pandemic, allowing more economic freedom to trade on Sundays is seen as a way of recouping the significant losses many endured during the lockdown.

It would also perhaps be a way to boost employment, although many smaller businesses claim they can’t open on Sundays because they can’t afford to hire new staff or pay their existing workers more money. Smaller businesses and self-employed unions are often at loggerheads over Sunday trading laws with bigger companies and corporations, represented by The National Association of Large Distribution Companies (Anged), with regards to competition and the pros and cons of more liberal trading hours.

Member comments

  1. I don’t understand why any restrictions should be placed on Sunday openings & this article doesn’t provide the reasons. It only explains that it’s a regulation and nothing about the reasoning behind it.
    Surely it should be a decision for the business owners whether or not they want to open on Sun. It’s not harming anyone & nobody is being forced to open if it doesn’t suit. I’d love to see more shops open on Sundays same as other countries.

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SPANISH TRADITIONS

Everything you need to know about Mother’s Day in Spain

Here's how and when in May Mother's Day is celebrated in Spain, and why it owes its roots to religion and a Valencian poet.

Published: 3 May 2024 13:37 CEST
Everything you need to know about Mother's Day in Spain

This year, Mother’s Day (El Día de la Madre) is celebrated in Spain on Sunday May 5th. It’s always celebrated on the first Sunday of the month of May.

On this day, young children in Spain give their mothers manualidades (crafts) they’ve made at school as a token of their love.

Husbands and older sons and daughters may buy their wives/mothers a present to say thanks for all that they do as matriarchs, which usually takes the form of a detalle (smaller present than for a birthday or Christmas), and will come accompanied by a message such as te quiero, mamá (I love you, mum).

According to experiences website Aladinia, the average Spaniards spends €65 on gifts on Mother’s Day. 

Other mums may send out text messages to wish each other ¡Feliz Día de la Madre! (Happy Mother’s Day!).

As it’s always celebrated on a Sunday, many shops will be closed but you can expect plenty of restaurants to be open for lunch and perhaps dinner. 

Depending where you’re from, the first Sunday of May may or may not be when you’re used to celebrating Mother’s Day in your home country.

Around the world over 100 countries celebrate Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday, more on the difference below) – 77 in May, 13 in March, and 14 at other times during the year.

Some countries, like the UK, celebrate Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday during Lent, meaning that the date changes each year. This is because Mothering Sunday was originally a Christian holiday in some European countries.

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

Spain, however, celebrates Mother’s Day on the first Sunday in May each year, meaning that it doesn’t have a fixed date either. But it wasn’t always like that.

The history of Mother’s Day in Spain

The first Mother’s Day in Spain was celebrated in Madrid all the way back on October 4th, 1926. Much of the impetus for establishing a day to celebrate mothers came, rather fittingly, from a poet.

Julio Menéndez García, a Valencian poet and public servant, pushed for a special day to celebrate mothers. Spanish newspaper La Libertad published a short section on Garcìa’s efforts in October 1925:

“A Levantine poet, Julio Menéndez García, has had the happy initiative that in Spain and in the Spanish-speaking nations a day should be consecrated to extol the love of mothers. The establishment of Mother’s Day is something tender and sympathetic, which deserves to be welcomed by governments, the press and public opinion, as it involves the highest tribute to women in their most august representation.”

After the Civil War, the church moved the date to December 8th to coincide with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a key holiday among Catholics. 

Civil War-era poster urging Madrid mothers to leave the Spanish capital with their children before the arrival of Franco’s troops. (Photo by AFP)

But it wasn’t until 1965 that Mother’s Day was celebrated in May in Spain. The reason for this change of date was to separate the celebrations (both were considered important enough to have their own day) but also the influence of other countries, namely the United States.

The campaign for a Mother’s Day was originally started by Anna Jarvis, an American wanting to honour her mother, in 1908. By 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson officially signed it into law, establishing a May date. 

However, for many years in Spain department store El Corte Inglés maintained the date of 8th December, meaning that Spain Mother’s Day was celebrated twice a year for a while, commercially speaking at least.

In 1936 a local council in Breña Baja, on the Canary island of La Palma, became the first in Spain to move Mother’s Day to May.

However, in 1965 the church authorities officially decided to move Mother’s Day to May, a month consecrated to the Virgin Mary. May is also the month of female gods in the classical world, and in Catholicism is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Interestingly, Jarvis herself later campaigned against the day, arguing it had become overly commercialised, something Spaniards often bemoan about other imported American customs like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. 

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

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