Small retailers complain of a "bad" start to the tourist season

 The results show that 58 percent of the establishments have witnessed a downturn in takings compared to last year, 30 percent claim business is the same while only 12 percent maintain that business has improved. Worst hit is the retailer sector in non metropolitan regions where 60 percent of businesses reported no increase in takings. 50 percent said trading was the same as last year, while 10 percent said business was down. Pimeco president Bernat Coll said that the economy “in general and the commercial activity is slowly improving but what we have seen over the past three years is a general slowdown in the speed over economic growth.” He want on to air his concern about the upward trend which began in 2012 has stopped and contracted. “Want we are hoping is that the summer sales will lift trade and consumer confidence because this is the period when retailers enjoy 40 percent of their annual trade,” he added.
“However, there is still some doom and gloom on the high street with three out of ten traders not expecting a good sales period,” Coll said. “And that is despite the sales having opened with discounts of over 50 percent in some cases,” he added.