Sunday opening dispute continues

The differences of criteria between the Majorcan Union (UM) and Majorcan Socialist Party (PSM) over the number of public holidays on which local shops can open has led to a “small crisis“ in the ruling coalition, although Maria Antonia Munar, president of the Council of Majorca and of the UM, has said that these differences will not lead to a split. The UM wants the new law on commerce to allow opening on more Sundays and public holidays (between six and eight, instead of the two which have been proposed) because, Munar said, “too much protectionism can lead to the demise of small shops,” and because the opinion of the consumers must also be taken into account. Pere Sampol, the Balearic minister of commerce, is prepared to cede over this point and increase the number of opening days, although he said that “in the long term, this type of policy is detrimental to the consumer, as the small shops have to raise their prices to recover the costs involved in opening on holidays.”