shopping

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) has partially admitted an appeal made by the Spanish government which considered unconstitutional the Catalan law which bans ‘fracking’ in Catalonia and the regulation against building department stores of more than 800 m² in urban areas. Regarding the prohibition of ‘fracking’, the Catalan law foresaw the prohibition of this well-simulation technique in which rock is fractured by a pressurised liquid “when it may have negative effects on the geologic, environmental and socioeconomic characteristics of the area”. However, the TC considered that it “invaded competences of the Spanish state”.So far, there have been 33 acts approved by the Catalan government and Parliament which have later been taken before the Constitutional Court.

Construction of the Viladecans The Style Outlets, the Neinver-managed outlet in Greater Barcelona, will begin in May. The official opening is planned for late 2016. The project represents an investment of €80 million on a 75,000 m² plot located in Viladecans, near Barcelona El Prat Airport. It will house 130 stores and it is expected to generate a total of 1,000 direct and indirect jobs. The first phase of construction will entail the opening of 100 stores on an area of 19,800 m². The second phase will begin in "two or three years when more than 90% of the first 100 stores are rented", said Eduardo Ceballos, Neinver's Country Manager for Spain. Once completed, the outlet will have 26,500 m² of shopping space.

On Thursday, Barcelona's City Council announced the inclusion of 228 historical and iconic commercial establishments in the new catalogue for protection of the city's urban heritage. However, 161 of the 389 shops initially identified were left out. The aim is to prevent the shops from disappearing due to the pressure of the rental market and therefore being transformed into a multinational franchise. The new catalogue, which will have 3 levels of protection, is part of a special plan for the protection and promotion of urban quality, due to be approved before the end of 2015 (because of May's municipal elections). The plan also identifies a series of areas where limited interventions will be allowed in order to preserve the quality of the urban environment. Among them are Ciutat Vella, Eixample's central area, Sagrada Família and the historical centres of Gràcia, Sant Andreu, Poblenou and Poble-sec.

The Catalan Parliament delivered a petition to the Constitutional Court in order to defend the Catalan law on opening hours for shops, which is more restrictive than the Spanish one. Catalonia is trying to preserve its small urban shops model, where most of the shops are run by families. The Spanish Government passed a reform in 2012 forcing Catalonia to allow longer opening hours. In 2013, the Catalan Executive promoted a new bill to invalidate the Spanish one. The new law was approved with 80% support in the Catalan Parliament in January 2014, but the Spanish Government appealed against it a few months later, and the Constitutional Court suspended the Catalan text in late 2014. 

For the first time in 7 years, in 2014 Catalan shops increased their overall sales figures compared to the previous year, growing by 1.4%. Furthermore, the figures are even more positive looking at the sales in December, which grew by 7.4% compared to the same month in 2013, according to data released on Thursday by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). The Catalan figures are better than the Spanish average, both for 2014’s overall figures and for those from December. In Spain as a whole, retail increased by 0.9% last year and by 5.4% in December. The worst year for Catalonia’s retail sector was 2011, when sales dropped by 6.2% in annual terms. Other years, they stagnated, such as in 2010. 

The European Commission has warned Spain that 6 Autonomous Communities, including Catalonia, should cancel their tax on large-sized shopping centres because it may represent indirect State aid benefiting smaller shops and therefore damaging free competition. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, announced legal actions to defend this tax, which was validated by the Constitutional Court. Catalonia’s shopping model has a great presence of small and local shops, mostly run by families with a small number of employees. In order to protect this model and make it compatible with new shopping malls and large-sized international shops, in 2000 the Catalan Parliament created a tax on shops larger than 2,500 square metres. Currently, it is set at €17 per year per square metre. The revenue collected is devoted to actions promoting local retail.

The Andorra-la Seu d’Urgell Airport kicked off its public and commercial activities on Thursday, and is able to host aircraft of up to 40 seats. The old La Seu d’Urgell’s airfield, in the middle of a Pyrenean valley and only 15km away from Andorra, has been updated to go beyond being a facility merely used by recreational light aircraft. From now on, small commercial airliners, charter flights and air taxis will be able to operate from this mountain airport very close to Catalonia’s and Andorra’s main ski resorts. The new facilities will be managed by the Catalan Government and Andorra, which will meet half of its operational costs. The Catalan Executive is currently negotiating with 8 companies that may be interested in flying from the airport. Furthermore, the permits needed to host flights from outside the Schengen Area are expected to be granted by the Spanish authorities during 2015.

Cirque du Soleil will be performing in PortAventura at least until 2020, the popular family resort and theme park on the Costa Daurada (Catalan for the Golden Coast) in Tarragona, southern Catalonia. The five-year partnership was announced this week, after last season’s success. The internationally renowned Canadian performance troop made their debut at the Catalan theme-park last summer, with their show ´Koozo´ in July and August. Following its success they decided to base their summer productions there until 2020. In 2015 they will perform ´Amaluna´, a show that combines a coming-of-age tale with a love story. The show will coincide with the 20^th anniversary of the theme park, one of the most popular family destinations in Europe. 

The Catalan fashion multinational Desigual will be strengthening its presence in the Americas over the coming months. In 2015 it will be entering new markets, with the opening of its first three stores in Mexico and three in Montreal, Canada. Its entry into the Aztec country will be made through a franchise, alongside the company El Palacio del Hierro (the Iron Palace) which owns luxury boutiques in Mexico, a market considered a “priority” by Desigual. Thanks to this cooperation, Desigual clothes will be sold in almost 30 different department stores throughout Mexico. In addition the Catalan brand will open its own boutiques in Andares in Guadalajara, Antea in Querétano and in Mexico City. Moreover, Desigual has also committed to strengthening its presence in the US before the end of 2015, with the opening of two new stores, one in Miami and the other in Las Vegas.

Barcelona has gone from 22^nd to 7^th place in the list of 468 European cities with the best economic prospects; it is ranked the 19^th most competitive city in the world and the 10^th in Europe; it stands at 10^th in the world in terms of receiving new business investments; and it became the 4^th city hosting the largest amount of congresses at world level. The report was produced by the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona in collaboration with the City Council. Furthermore, another study compiled by ESADE business school stressed that Barcelona is the 1^st European city in money spent per tourist in shopping, ahead of London and Paris. The Mayor of Barcelona, ??Xavier Trias, welcomed the news but also emphasised the ''shadow'' of having more than 100,000 unemployed in Barcelona, a number he finds “unbearable.”

An agreement between the Centre-Right pro-Catalan State Coalition (CiU) – which runs Barcelona's municipal government in minority – and the People's Party (PP) will allow shops located in tourist areas of the Catalan capital to be open on Sundays during the summer season, from 10am to 6pm. Shops in Catalonia are normally closed on Sundays, with few exceptions for the Christmas or sales seasons. However, shops in small tourist towns are allowed greater flexibility during holidays and can open on Sundays. The case of Barcelona is quite unusual, since it is the largest tourist destination in Catalonia but it is also a big city with a dense network of small and neighbourhood shops. These small shops could be damaged if they have to open longer hours (with the increase of financial and personal costs associated) in order to compete with multinationals.

The Catalan Parliament has finally approved the legal framework allowing the construction and the activities of the BCN World mega-resort, to be located next to PortAventura amusement park in the Costa Daurada. Now, the company Veremonte has the final green light to start construction, after it already had announced the first investors some months ago. Casino giant Melco, hotel brand Melià, US Hard Rock, Value Retail shopping malls and Investindustrial, which owns PortAventura, will participate in the $6 billion project. Furthermore, Ferrari announced it will build its first theme park in Europe there. BCN World involves 6 mega-casinos, large-size hotels, shopping malls, convention centres, theatres, golf courses, parks, a beach club, technology institutes and smart city developments.

For the first time since the beginning of the crisis, sales have already shown a “slight recovery” during Christmas, highlighted the President of Catalonia’s Confederation of Commerce (CCC), Miguel Ángel Fraile, who is “very optimistic” about the upcoming winter sales. Indeed, during the months of November and December, retail consumption have registered an increase of 2% and 3% compared to the previous year. It is expected that Catalans will spend a total of about €800 million during the winter sales, between 3% and 5% more than last year. These estimates by CCC also indicate that, on average, each citizen will spend €90 for the purchase of clothing items.

The Italian investment group has announced it will build and manage 3,000 of the 6,000 hotel rooms of the ‘BCN World’ mega resort, the competitor to Madrid’s Eurovegas that is being developed by Veremonte in Salou (Costa Daurada). The $6 billion entertainment resort will be located next to the beach and the PortAventura theme park, which is owned by Investindustrial. After a year of talks, the Italian company has finally decided to join the mega resort project, which will have casinos, hotels, convention centres, luxury shops, restaurants, golf courses and a beach club. The CEO of ‘BCN World’, Xavier Adserà, confirmed that the resort will begin building in the first half of 2014, employing 17,000 people. The hotel group Melià, shopping-mall company Value Retail and casino group Melco Crown Entertainment will build the first phase.

The Catalan capital is the world’s 4^th main port for the cruise ship industry, with the first 3 one being all in Florida. This means that Barcelona is the most important port in Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in terms of the amount of cruise ship passengers it receives. After a small decline in 2012, this year the Catalan capital is expecting to repeat its all time record from 2011, with more than 2.6 million cruise passengers. Furthermore, the cruise ship industry is increasingly using other Catalan harbours, such as Roses and Palamós. This week, for the first time ever, two large cruise ships docked at Palamós at the same time. In addition, this weekend is one of the busiest for Barcelona’s port, with 15 cruise ships docking in its harbour, transporting a total of 55,000 passengers.