Sunday (21st June) saw the long-awaited return of Sunday shopping to the Valencian Community. Shops in tourist areas are now own every Sunday, through to January and after a long lockdown, locals made the most of the opportunity to hit Zenia Boulevard for some retail therapy.
Sunday shopping was always a key feature of the local areas and a considerable boost to attracting tourists. However, in 2018 this changed and medium-sized and large stores were no longer allowed to open every day of the week. The Valencian Community decided that stores were only allowed to open for six months of the year. The regional government claimed that the change had been made in order to give shop-workers more family and leisure time.
However, many local municipalities across the southern Costa Blanca have complained that shoppers simply hop across the border on a Sunday and do all their shopping in the neighbouring Murcia region. This, the local governments believe, deprives the local economy of their money.