Spain’s Shops Take a Massive Beating Due to Emergency Lockdown

SPAIN’S shops have taken a massive beating due to the country’s emergency lockdown measures.

Latest retail sales figures offer little shock value as most shops were forced to pull down their shutters in mid-March when the State of Alarm laws started.

They are now just beginning on the start of their long journey to try to return to normal, as Spain’s phase out of the restrictions continues.

Unsurprisingly government figures show that retail sales for April plunged by 32 per cent in an all-time record fall.

As a means of comparison, March saw a 14 per cent drop, which was also a record-breaker, and the April figure is three times worse than any figure produced during the country’s recession less than a decade ago.

The statistics could have been worse had it not been for online shopping, but some smaller retailers just did not have that kind of facility to offer.

The figures generally reflect the fact that the big names seen around the country’s main streets and shopping centres managed to ride the storm comparatively well, whilst independent chains and stores took a far greater hit.

With people forced to stay indoors during April, service station retail revenues collapsed by 58 per cent.