The summer sales could be shifted to cash in on tourists

Further shake-ups in the programming of the region's shops sales are expected with the Balearic government set to put the summer sales back, from the traditional first Monday in July start date, to the end of the month this year with the primary aim being to cash in on the tourists. The debate over the dates of the region's two sale periods each year has been raging for some time and a study into the summer sales was ordered at the start of the year, on the back of one of the worst Christmas and New Year periods and poor winter sales in Palma. Under a new law, both the winter and summer sales will be fixed to a duration of two months and, with the summer sales starting at the end of the July the government hopes that by spanning August and September, the two busiest tourist months of the year, shopkeepers will see sales and takings increase. The proposal has been welcomed by the association of shopkeepers, which coincidentally is the only organisation to have pledged its support for the high controversial proposed tourist tax.