Govt to help prevent repeat of sales fiasco

Following the response from the commercial sectors to this year's delay of the sales, the government appears prepared to back track and, in co-operation with commercial groups and associations, to ensure that this year's high street “fiasco” does not happen again. The government is prepared to act on the results of the study carried out by the shopkeepers association, but Afedeco are lobbying the government to take tougher action against the shopping complexes and their year-round reductions, discounts and offers. The president of Afedeco, Pau Bellinfante also said yesterday that consumers felt persecuted by the delay in the sales because while the rest of Spain were enjoying the summer bargains, the Balearics were having to wait. Afedeco canvassed 450 shopkeepers across the Balearics and the majority want the summer sales to be put back to their original start date of the first Monday in July. Had the government listened to the commercial sector in the first place, the summer sales disaster could have been avoided, Bellinfante is confident that the local government will now resolve the problem. But in Minorca and Ibiza, shopkeepers backed the postponement plan in order to cash in on the tourists - in fact the commercial associations on both islands specifically asked for a three week delay on the simple grounds there would be more people on holiday.