What stores and shopping centers open on August 15, 2026, in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, and Málaga

An autonomous community can modify the calendar of Sundays and holidays for commercial openings through its own decision (usually an annual autonomous commercial calendar regulation), but always within the basic state framework established by the Commercial Hours Law. This framework sets a minimum number of opening days and reserves to the communities the specific choice of which Sundays and holidays to open, as well as the declaration of areas of high tourist influx. The specific procedure is developed in the autonomous regulations, but in all cases requires a formal act by the competent body of the community and its official publication, and respect for state limits (minimum days and rules on tourist zones and overall hours). Additionally, there are specific rules on how areas of high tourist influx are proposed and approved, with deadlines and effects of silence.

State–Autonomous Communities Competence Framework

The basic regulation of commercial hours is set by the State through the Law 1/2004, on Commercial Hours, enacted under article 149.1.13 of the Constitution (foundations and organization of the economy). This law has been amended, among other regulations, by the Royal Decree-law 20/2012, which reinforced the liberalization of hours and openings on Sundays and holidays.

Within this basic framework, the autonomous communities, exercising their competencies in internal commerce, regulate opening and closing hours and specify the calendar of opening holidays. Constitutional jurisprudence (for example, rulings on autonomous commercial regulations in the Balearic Islands and Navarra, published in STC 26/2012, STC 59/2016, and STC 37/2016) has reiterated that communities cannot contradict the basic state regulations regarding hours and holiday openings.

State Limits on Sundays and Holidays

According to article 4 of the Law 1/2004, as amended by the Royal Decree-law 20/2012:

• State minimum: the minimum number of Sundays and holidays for opening is sixteen.
• Autonomous margin: communities can modify this number “according to their commercial needs, increasing or decreasing it,” but never below ten.
• Determination of specific days: the choice of which Sundays and holidays to open corresponds to each autonomous community within its territory.
• Criteria to consider: to set the days, communities must “primarily” consider commercial attractiveness for consumers, taking into account:
  • holidays during long weekends (two or more consecutive holidays);
  • sale periods;
  • days of higher tourist influx; and
  • holidays during the Christmas campaign.

Additionally, article 3, also amended by the Royal Decree-law 20/2012, establishes that the overall weekly schedule on working days cannot be restricted below 90 hours, which indirectly conditions how communities design their opening regimes.

Procedure to Set or Modify the Autonomous Calendar

Based on this foundation, the modification of the authorized commercial opening calendar generally follows these steps:

• 1. Initiative within the autonomous government. The department responsible for commerce prepares a proposal for the calendar of Sundays and holidays for a given year (or period), adjusting the total number to the basic limits (between 10 and 16, or more if the autonomous regulation allows) and distributing them according to legally established criteria.
• 2. Evaluation of commercial and tourist circumstances. To comply with article 4 of the Law 1/2004, the community must internally justify that the calendar primarily addresses consumer demand, sale periods, and tourist influx.
• 3. Formal approval. The calendar is usually approved by decree or another general provision of the autonomous Government Council, under the autonomous internal commerce law (for example, regulations such as the State Law 7/1996 on retail commerce, supplemented by autonomous legislations and amended, among others, by Law 1/2010, Law 3/2014, or the Royal Decree-law 20/2018).
• 4. Official publication. The modification is only effective after its publication in the official gazette of the autonomous community, so that businesses and consumers know the applicable calendar.

The basic state regulation does not explicitly impose mandatory reports or consultations to approve these calendars, but many communities, in their own legislation, foresee participation of economic sectors and, if applicable, reports from advisory councils. No further information is available in the consulted sources about specific internal procedural requirements.

Areas of High Tourist Influx and Deadlines

The Law 1/2004 also establishes a special regime of freedom of hours for establishments located in areas of high tourist influx. According to the law:

• Communities determine these areas “at the proposal of the municipalities.”
• If the community does not resolve within the deadline set in its legislation or, failing that, six months, the area is understood to be declared according to the municipal proposal (positive silence).
• In municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants and certain thresholds of overnight stays or cruise passengers, at least one area of high tourist influx must be declared; if the community does not act within six months, the entire city is understood to be declared as such, with full freedom of opening all year round.

These rules are complemented by later reforms (for example, Law 18/2014 and Royal Decree-law 8/2014), as well as constitutional doctrine on freedom of hours in tourist areas, collected, among others, in STC 140/2011.

Other Related Regulations

In this area, state regulations such as Royal Decree-law 6/2000, Organic Law 2/1996, Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015, Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, Law 24/2013, the 2010 electric toll regulation, Law 35/2006 on IRPF, Royal Decree 1432/2003, the Consolidated Text of the General Law for Consumer Protection, and resolutions and appeals such as the resolution on the department store agreement or the unconstitutionality appeal 2045-2005, which contextualize the evolution of the commercial hours regime.

Autonomous governments have broad competence to regulate commercial hours (including Sundays and holidays), but always within a basic state framework mainly established by the Law 1/2004, on Commercial Hours. The State, supported by article 149.1.13 of the Constitution (general economic organization), sets minimum freedoms regarding hours and opening days that communities cannot restrict. From there, autonomous communities regulate the weekly schedule, the number and choice of Sundays and holidays for opening, areas of high tourist influx, and the sanctioning regime. The Constitutional Court has delineated these margins by annulling autonomous regulations that reduced the minimum freedom guaranteed by the basic state regulation.

Basic State Framework

The key regulation is the Law 1/2004, on Commercial Hours, enacted as basic regulation in the organization of economic activity. Among other relevant aspects:

• Basic state competence: the Law is enacted under art. 149.1.13 CE and sets a minimum "floor" of freedom of hours, within which communities can develop their own regulations.
• Minimum weekly schedule: the overall hours during which businesses can operate on working days cannot be restricted by autonomous communities below 90 hours.
• Sundays and holidays: a minimum of 16 Sundays and holidays per year is established for business openings. Communities can modify this number but not reduce it below 10; they can also increase it. The specific determination of which Sundays and holidays to open corresponds to each autonomous community.
• Full freedom in certain cases: the Law recognizes total freedom of hours for certain establishments (for example, those located in areas of high tourist influx, convenience stores, and premises under 300 m² not belonging to large groups), and regulates how communities must declare areas of high tourist influx, which have full freedom of hours.
• Sanctioning regime: communities are empowered to establish the regime of infractions and sanctions regarding calendars and commercial hours.

This Law is integrated with the general retail commerce regulation of the Law 7/1996, on Retail Commerce Organization, amended several times, and with later reforms introduced, among others, by the Royal Decree-law 20/2012, which reinforced freedom of hours and expanded the regulation of areas of high tourist influx.

Competencies of Autonomous Communities

Within this framework, communities, exercising their competencies over internal commerce, can:

• Set, by their own regulation, the specific weekly schedule of opening and closing of establishments, always respecting the state minimum of 90 hours.
• Determine the autonomous calendar of Sundays and holidays for opening, respecting the minimum days set by Law 1/2004 (at least 10, generally 16) and considering criteria such as sales, Christmas, long weekends, and periods of greater commercial attractiveness.
• Regulate the procedure and criteria to declare areas of high tourist influx, within what is established in Law 1/2004. An example is the Decree 2/2014 of Andalusia, developed by the Order of March 5, 2021 and linked to temporary measures such as the Andalusian Decree-law 11/2021 and its erratum.
• Establish more liberal regimes than the basic state one. This is the case of the Community of Madrid with the Law 2/2012 on Commercial Activity Dynamization (also published in the BOCM), which recognizes practically full freedom of hours.
• Approve detailed regulations on commerce and hours, such as Decree-law 1/2015 and its reform by Decree-law 1/2016 of the Valencian Community, ratified by Resolution 186/IX of Les Corts.
• Integrate the matter into autonomous commerce and facilities laws, such as the Law 18/2017 on commerce, services, and fairs of Catalonia, amended by Law 12/2025, or the Catalan Decree-law 1/2009.

Constitutional Court Doctrine

The delimitation of competencies has been refined through several rulings of the Constitutional Court, including:

• STC 37/2016, on Royal Decree-law 20/2012, which supports the state competence to set bases on commercial hours for reasons of general economic organization.
• STC 211/2016, which declares null provisions of Catalonia's Decree-law 4/2012 for limiting the freedom of hours recognized by the basic state regulation.
• STC 26/2012, on the Balearic commercial law, which annuls provisions setting daily hour limits and tourist zones contrary to Law 1/2004.
• STC 124/2003 and STC 254/2004, which already outlined the distinction between basic state competence and autonomous development in internal commerce and hours.

In summary, communities can configure their own commercial hours model (more or less flexible) as long as they respect the minimum freedom set by Law 1/2004 and constitutional jurisprudence. When an autonomous regulation reduces that basic freedom — for example, excessively reducing Sundays and holidays for opening or unjustifiably excluding tourist zones from freedom of hours — the Constitutional Court has declared it unconstitutional.

Other Related Normative References

There are numerous related autonomous and state regulations, such as:

• Catalan Law 5/2017 and its erratum, affecting large commercial establishments.
• Sectoral and temporary regulations, such as ORDRE VEH/40/2021 of Catalonia, fair regulation in the Valencian Community, or Andalusian and Madrid orders and decrees cited, some linked to COVID‑19: Decree 3/2021 Madrid, Decree 180/2011, Decree 87/2010.
• Other Andalusian provisions such as the Order of October 22, 2025 (not focused on commerce but illustrative of sectoral hour regulation), as well as the official text of Valencian Decree-law 1/2015.

In any case, the common pattern is that the autonomous community legislates and details commercial hours in its territory but cannot go against the core freedom of opening set by the basic state legislation and controlled by the Constitutional Court.

The liberalization of commercial hours in Spain is mainly governed by a basic state regulation, the Law 1/2004, on Commercial Hours, which develops the general framework of the Law 7/1996, on Retail Commerce Organization. This state law sets common minimums (90 weekly hours and a minimum number of Sundays and holidays for opening) and leaves a wide margin to autonomous communities to specify calendars and exceptions. The result, according to a recent analysis by the Anged employers' association disseminated by the newspaper Demócrata, is a mosaic of 19 autonomous calendars and about 370 municipal regulations, with strong differences in the real degree of liberalization between territories, especially modulated by the Areas of High Tourist Influx (ZGAT) created in 2012 (Demócrata article).

Basic State Regulation

The central regulation is the Law 1/2004, of December 21, on Commercial Hours (BOE Law 1/2004). In its preamble and first articles, the law establishes that:

• It acts as basic legislation under article 149.1.13 CE (foundations and general planning of economic activity).
• It recognizes the freedom of the merchant to set opening and closing hours and opening days, but within the framework defined by the autonomous communities.
• It sets a minimum global weekly schedule that communities cannot reduce below 90 hours.
• It establishes a minimum number of Sundays and holidays for opening: the consolidated text, after its amendment by Royal Decree-law 20/2012 (RDL 20/2012), sets the state minimum at 16 days, allowing communities to increase or reduce it, but not below 10.

In parallel, the Law 7/1996, on Retail Commerce Organization (BOE Law 7/1996) remains the general framework for retail commerce (special sales, discounts, promotions, etc.). It has been amended by various laws (for example, Law 1/2010 and Law 3/2014), but regarding hours it refers to the specific regulation of Law 1/2004.

Constitutional jurisprudence has reaffirmed this division of competencies: the State sets the bases (minimum hours and holidays, general criteria, as reflected in STC 26/2012 on the Balearic Islands or STC 117/2022 on Catalonia), and communities regulate the details of the hours within those limits.

Autonomous Margin and Application Map

According to the Anged study summarized by Demócrata, applied to stores over 300 m², the current scheme by communities is:

• Total freedom of hours: Community of Madrid (based on Law 2/2012, on Commercial Activity Dynamization) and Ceuta. Madrid has made this liberalization a political banner, mentioned in several official autonomous notes, for example in this statement about La Vaguada and in this intervention by Díaz Ayuso.
• Very open (16 holidays): Andalusia, Region of Murcia, and Melilla. In Andalusia, the framework is set in the Decree-Law 1/2012, on Internal Commerce, amended by DL 1/2013, DL 2/2020, and DL 3/2024. Each year the calendar is specified, as reflected in the note “Employment publishes the 16 Sundays and holidays for opening in 2025.”
• Intermediate: Castilla-La Mancha (12 days, based on Law 2/2010 and Law 1/2013), and Valencian Community (11 days, regulated in Law 3/2011 on Commerce and its amendment by Law 3/2018; the Conselleria announces the calendar each year, as in this note for 2025 and in preparation for a broader reform commented in this other).
• Legal minimum (10 days): Aragon, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, and Asturias. Each has its own commerce law:
  • Aragon: Law 7/2005 on hours (developed and amended, among others, by DL 1/2013 and Law 4/2015 on Commerce of Aragon).
  • Castilla y León: Consolidated Text of the Commerce Law (DLeg 2/2014), with annual calendar orders.
  • Catalonia: Law 18/2017 on commerce, services, and fairs, which combines a general calendar (10 holidays, with municipal swap capacity, as noted in the 2026 calendar note) and extensive use of ZGAT in Barcelona (City Council note).
  • Galicia: Law 13/2006 on commercial hours, amended by Law 1/2013.
  • Canary Islands: DLeg 1/2012 and Law 7/2012, with annual orders such as those from 2016–2018 (2016, 2017, 2018).
  • Balearic Islands: Law 11/2014 on commerce, amended by Law 17/2016, with annual calendars like those for 2025 and 2026 (2025, 2026).
• More restrictive: Navarra (9 holidays) and Basque Country (8 holidays), within the margin allowed by state law.

Role of Areas of High Tourist Influx (ZGAT)

The figure of ZGAT, introduced in 2012 as a state instrument to allow more openings in tourist areas, has been widely developed by the autonomies. The study cited by Demócrata highlights that there are already 370 ZGAT, concentrated mainly in Catalonia (90), Valencian Community (74), Canary Islands (49), Balearic Islands (44), and Andalusia (35). Within these areas, generally, greater freedom of hours and holidays applies, but the specific delimitation (affected streets, periods of the year, types of establishments) depends on each community and municipality.

The result is a model in which the 2004 state law guarantees a common floor of opening and hours, while the autonomies, through their commerce laws and extensive use of ZGAT, define in practice whether the regime is of broad liberalization (case of Madrid and important tourist areas) or restriction close to the legal minimum, as reflected in the differences quantified in the Demócrata report.