Before, small shopkeepers would talk of a bad year, but the problem now is a continuous, down-hill slide.

To give an idea about how grave it is, 945 shops all over the province have closed their doors for the last time over the last five years. Yes, during that time new ones have opened but nowhere near enough to counter the negative balance.

The culprits behind this are well known: online sales, large shopping centres with free parking and a sharp rise in premises rent in the centre of the city of Granada, all have had a hand in it, according to the Federación Provincial de Comercio de Granada.

Young people try their hand at running their own business but end up defeated and disilusioned. The older generation reach retirement age and nobody in the family wants to take their business on.

Some business are not threatened by online purchases and large shopping centres, and they are hairdressers and beauticians; businesses that require your physical presence, which explains why there are so many barbers and hairdressers around.

It’s the small towns and villages that suffer the most where shoe shops, haberdasheries, butchers, and ironmongers can’t win against not only the fore mentioned, but also the Chinese bazars, as well.

And of course, what we haven’t mentioned is that the tremendous hike in the cost of living has left households with little spending power; thus fewer customers and/or fewer purchases.

The Federación Provincial de Comercio de Granada insists that allowing shopping centres and large supermarkets to open on Sundays is a low blow; a sentiment shared by workers unions. The administrations must know this, so why?

((News/Noticias: Granada, Andalucia)