Jason MoorePalma29/01/2020 09:52
TW
2

I was rather shocked last Christmas when I walked up the high street in an English coastal town only to discover that it was almost empty of shops; quite literally they had all closed down or moved elsewhere. It was a sorry sight. Online shopping and out of town shopping centres are killing the high street in Britain and it would be a terrible state of affairs if a similar thing happened here.

Over recent years a number of famous shops and restaurants with long histories have closed their doors for business in Palma. Majorca is changing and obviously there are more out of town shopping centres and even traditional restaurants are finding it hard to compete. This is one of the reasons I believe that the local authorities should allow more flexible shop and restaurant opening hours. Shops should be able to open when they want and not when the government say so.

At the moment only a small number of shops can open on Sunday, those in the centre of Palma. It had been hoped that Sunday opening would be extended to other areas but this has not proved to be the case. The retail and restaurant sector does need help. During the summer, shops should be allowed to be open late into the night, which would also give Palma a buzz. They should also be allowed to open on Sunday. Shops more than restaurants face a nightmare task...competing against the internet. They need help and this help should be forthcoming from the local authorities.