Anticipation ahead of the summer sales

Summer sales fever has already gripped mainland Spain, where the sales are already underway, but in the Balearics, bargain hunters will have to wait until Monday. Some of the more artful shoppers have spent the past week nipping over to Madrid and Barcelona to beat the Balearics' rush, but there will be the usual army of bargain hunters queuing up outside department stores and hyper markets before the sun rises on Monday morning. Last summer, in accordance with new Balearic commercial laws, the summer sales did not start until July 23 - the idea was to maintain normal prices in local stores for as long as possible, taking full advantage of the thousands of tourists being made to pay top whack for goods. All that the local government achieved was to anger shopkeepers and traders - hence why this year, the summer sales have been restored to their traditional period. Worst hit by last year's delay were the small shopkeepers, the sector of the commercial community the local government holds dearest to its heart. The department stores and the hyper markets managed to get round the new law, launching a series of special offers and discounts at the start of July and not calling them sales.