Spain’s Murcia Area Sees Supermarkets Reopening on Sundays by Order of Madrid

UNIONS representing shopworkers in the Murcia region have slammed a national government decision to overturn a local ban on supermarkets closing in tourist areas on Sundays.

The regional government decided to shut down larger stores during the State of Alarm, but Madrid has vetoed the move.

It said that Murcia authorities did not have the right to limit Sunday opening hours under the terms of the State of Alarm.

That means that supermarkets in designated tourist zones like Los Alcázares, San Javier, San Pedro del Pinatar, Cartagena, and Mazarrón have now been allowed to reopen on a Sunday.

The CC OO and UGT unions described the move as ‘reckless.’

Murcia’s business minister, Ana Martínez Vidal, wrote to the health ministry in Madrid stating that many of the municipalities wanted to keep Sunday closing.

She added that the increasing rise in Covid-19 infections needed the adoption of urgent measures like the tourist area closures.