What supermarkets open on August 15: hours of Mercadona, Carrefour, Lidl, Aldi, and DIA

The opening hours of supermarkets on Sundays and holidays in Spain are regulated, basically, by a state law and, more specifically, by each autonomous community and, in some practical aspects, by the municipalities themselves. At the state level, the key regulation is Law 1/2004, of December 21, on Commercial Hours, amended, among others, by Royal Decree-Law 20/2012 and Law 18/2014. This law sets a minimum "floor" of openings on holidays and a framework of time freedom for certain types of establishments, which includes many supermarkets. The autonomous communities, based on this, specify how many Sundays and holidays shops can open and under what conditions.

1. Basic state framework

The state regulation that governs commercial hours, including those of supermarkets, is Law 1/2004, on Commercial Hours (text in BOE). This law, enacted under article 149.1.13.a of the Constitution (foundations of the general economic order), establishes two main blocks of rules:

• Minimum weekly limit: autonomous communities cannot restrict the total weekly hours to less than 90 hours, so the accumulated opening hours of shops on working days cannot be below this threshold.
• Minimum Sundays and holidays openings: after the reform of Royal Decree-Law 20/2012, of July 13 (RDL 20/2012), the state minimum is 16 Sundays or holidays authorized for opening per year, although communities can increase or reduce it, never going below 10.

Law 1/2004 itself, amended by RDL 20/2012 and by Law 18/2014, of October 15 (Law 18/2014), defines a regime of total freedom of hours for certain shops, which affects many small supermarkets:

• Establishments in areas of high tourist influx, in stations and means of transport and border points, which “shall have full freedom to determine the days and hours they remain open to the public throughout the national territory.”
• Small-scale sales establishments (sales and display area less than 300 m², with nuances for large groups), which also enjoy full freedom of hours.

Law 1/2004 refers to the autonomous communities to set the specific calendar of Sundays and holidays openings and the sanctioning system, but if a community decides not to exercise its options, it is understood that merchants have full freedom both for daily hours and for Sundays and holidays openings.

2. Role of the autonomous communities

In practice, the effective regulation of when a supermarket can open on Sunday or holiday depends on the autonomous commercial law and the rules that develop commercial hours. Some illustrative references:

• Community of Madrid: Law 2/2012, of June 12, on Commercial Activity Dynamization (Law 2/2012 Madrid) establishes, in its chapter III, the full freedom of opening of commercial establishments. Each merchant determines “with full freedom and without any legal limitation” the holidays for opening, so supermarkets can open any Sunday or holiday, without prejudice to the labor regulations applicable to their staff.
• Valencian Community: Law 3/2011, on commerce of the Valencian Community (Law 3/2011) and its development regarding hours has been reorganized by Decree-Law 1/2015, on commercial hours (Decree-Law 1/2015), later nuanced by Decree-Law 1/2016 (Decree-Law 1/2016). These rules set the number of Sundays and holidays openings, regulate areas of high tourist influx, and specify how municipalities can request additional openings.
• Catalonia: commercial hours are regulated in Law 18/2017, on commerce, services and fairs (partially amended by Law 12/2025, official link Law 12/2025). Additionally, orders such as ORDRE EMC/127/2017 specifically establish the calendar of openings on Sundays and holidays for certain years (opening calendar order in Catalonia).
• Andalusia: the general regime is in the Consolidated Text of the Interior Commerce Law of Andalusia (Legislative Decree 1/2012) and its amendment by Decree-Law 1/2013 (Decree-Law 1/2013 Andalusia), complemented by specific rules on areas of high tourist influx, such as Decree 2/2014.

Each community also usually approves, normally annually, an order or decree with the annual calendar of Sundays and holidays openings. Example: the Order of November 21, 2016 in Andalusia sets the Sundays and holidays openings for 2017 (Andalusian calendar order); in Catalonia, the mentioned ORDRE EMC/127/2017 does the same for 2018-2019.

3. Supermarkets, holidays and territorial differences

Consequently, to know if a specific supermarket can open on a given holiday, three levels must be checked:

• The state framework of Law 1/2004, which guarantees a minimum of Sundays/holidays and recognizes total freedom for small establishments and those located in tourist areas.
• The autonomous commercial and commercial hours law (such as Law 2/2012 of Madrid, Law 3/2011 and Decree-Law 1/2015 in the Valencian Community, or Law 18/2017 in Catalonia), which sets the number of holidays openings, the regime of areas of high tourist influx, and possible exceptions.
• The annual autonomous calendar of Sundays and holidays openings and, if applicable, municipal agreements or declarations on tourist areas.

No further information is available in the consulted sources about all autonomous communities, but the competence scheme is the same: Law 1/2004 sets the common floor and each community, through its own commercial law and annual calendar, specifies how many holidays and under what conditions supermarkets can open.

The declaration of a municipality or area as an area of high tourist influx for commercial hours purposes is essentially an autonomous procedure, but supported by a common state basis. In practice, the municipality initiates the file and the autonomous community adopts the final resolution, with participation from business, union, and consumer organizations. Additionally, there is usually a maximum deadline to resolve, after which, in many cases, positive silence applies.

State basis: what the Commercial Hours Law requires

The basic regulation is Law 1/2004, on Commercial Hours, which in its article 5.4 establishes that the autonomous communities, at the proposal of the municipalities, determine the areas of high tourist influx. It also defines the material criteria (concentration of tourist accommodations, World Heritage declaration, major events, cruise ports, shopping tourism, etc.) and sets a key procedural element:

• The autonomous community must resolve within the deadline set by its legislation and, failing that, within six months.
• If it does not resolve within that period, the municipal request is deemed approved and, therefore, the area is declared an area of high tourist influx under the terms proposed by the municipality, according to the text of Law 1/2004 itself (Commercial Hours Law).

Subsequent regulation (Royal Decree-Law 20/2012 and Law 18/2014) reinforces that requests and resolutions must be properly justified, and that if the autonomous community introduces unjustified restrictions (for example, only part of the municipality or only some months), freedom of hours may be imposed for the entire municipality.

Role of the municipality: initiative and justificatory report

Generally, the procedure begins at the local level:

• Agreement of the competent municipal body (plenary or equivalent collegiate body) to request the declaration of an area or municipality as an area of high tourist influx.
• The agreement must delimit the territorial scope (whole municipality or part) and the time periods for which the declaration is requested.
• A justificatory report must be prepared to prove compliance with the criteria of Law 1/2004 and autonomous regulations (accommodation places, overnight stays, percentage of second homes, cruise data, visitors, etc.).
• In many communities, the hearing of the Local Commerce Council or similar body and the most representative sector entities is required or practiced.

A detailed example of this phase can be seen in the Valencian Community, where Decree-Law 1/2015 regulates that the municipal request must be accompanied by a secretary's certificate on the collegiate body's agreement, a delimitation map of the area, and studies justifying the circumstances (art. 21 bis), as reflected in the Decree-Law 1/2015 on commercial hours.

Role of the autonomous community: processing, reports, and resolution

Each community develops the procedure, but the scheme is usually similar. Taking Andalusia and Valencian Community as references:

• Instructing body: usually the general directorate competent in commerce.
• Review of the request: checking that the documentation is complete; if not, a remedy is required (for example, in the Valencian Community, 10 days are granted to remedy, according to art. 21 bis of Decree-Law 1/2015).
• Mandatory or optional reports:
  • In Andalusia, the procedure must include reports from the most representative organizations of employers, workers, and consumers, from the Territorial Delegation, and an opinion from the Andalusian Commerce Council, according to Decree 2/2014.
  • In the Valencian Community, reports may be requested from the Valencian Tourism Agency and the Chamber of Commerce, in addition to the hearing of the Local Commerce Council, according to the same Decree-Law 1/2015.
• Public information: some autonomous regulations include or allow a public information phase, especially when dealing with broad declarations or general reviews.
• Resolution: adopted by the head of the ministry or general directorate of commerce, setting:
  • The exact territorial scope.
  • The periods of the year during which the condition of high tourist influx applies.
  • The validity: in Andalusia, for example, maximum 4 years, requiring a new declaration after that period, according to Decree 2/2014; in the Valencian Community, validity is maintained as long as the circumstances persist (art. 21 ter of Decree-Law 1/2015).
• Publication and publicity: besides notification to the municipality, the resolution is usually published in the autonomous official journal and, at least, on the municipal notice board and website.

Deadlines, silence, and review

Law 1/2004 foresees that if the autonomous community does not resolve within the deadline established in its legislation or, failing that, within six months, the area is deemed declared according to the municipal proposal. Some autonomous laws set specific deadlines (for example, three months in the Valencian Community to resolve the request) and regulate the regime of already declared areas and their periodic review.

Against the autonomous resolution, generally, administrative appeal (reconsideration or appeal, depending on the case) and, ultimately, contentious-administrative appeal are available.

The autonomous communities have broad powers to set the specific opening and closing hours of commerce in their territory and to define the calendar of Sundays and holidays openings, but they must do so within a basic state framework that sets minimum freedoms of hours and openings on holidays. This framework is mainly provided by Law 1/2004, on Commercial Hours, enacted under art. 149.1.13.a of the Constitution, on bases of the general economic order. The Constitutional Court jurisprudence has reiterated that communities can develop and specify the regulation of commercial hours, but cannot restrict the minimum freedom guaranteed by the basic state regulation. From there, each community configures a more or less liberal model, with very different examples among Madrid, Catalonia, Andalusia, and other regions.

Basic state framework

Constitution and state laws

Law 1/2004, of December 21, on Commercial Hours, is the basic reference regulation. In its preamble, it states that it is enacted exercising the state competence over the bases of the regulation of economic activity (art. 149.1.13.a CE) and establishes a minimum framework of freedom of hours, which communities cannot restrict beyond certain limits, but can expand. The text can be consulted at Law 1/2004 on Commercial Hours.

According to the excerpts of the law collected in the sources:

• Minimum total weekly hours: communities cannot set a total schedule below 90 weekly opening hours on working days.
• Merchant's decision: within that total limit, the daily opening and closing hours are freely decided by each merchant.
• Sundays and holidays: the general minimum number of openings is 16 Sundays and holidays per year, which communities can increase or, if applicable, reduce, but never below 10.
• Determination of specific days: it corresponds to each autonomous community to set which specific Sundays and holidays are open, considering criteria such as sales, Christmas, long weekends, or high tourist influx.

Law 7/1996, on Retail Trade Regulation, in its current wording after successive reforms, contains the general framework of internal commerce and has been subject to Constitutional Court rulings regarding hours and sales during sales periods (for example, STC 124/2003). It can be consulted at Law 7/1996 on Retail Trade Regulation.

Additionally, Law 20/2013, of December 9, on Guaranteeing Market Unity, projects principles of freedom of establishment and circulation that also affect the autonomous regulation of commercial hours, by limiting disproportionate or discriminatory obstacles. Its text is available at Law 20/2013 on Market Unity.

Constitutional jurisprudence

The Constitutional Court has shaped this competence distribution in multiple rulings on conflicts between the State and communities. Among others:

• STC 140/2011 validates state provisions on freedom of hours in areas of high tourist influx against Balearic regulations, highlighting the basic nature of Law 1/2004 (STC 140/2011).
• SSTC 211/2016 and 25/2017 annul Catalan provisions that spatially or temporally limited the freedom of hours recognized by the basic state regulation (STC 211/2016 and STC 25/2017).
• Several rulings on Royal Decree-Law 20/2012 (for example, STC 37/2016) confirm the constitutionality of the state expansion of minimum freedom of hours.

Competences of the autonomous communities

Starting from that basic floor, the autonomous communities exercise their internal commerce competences to:

• Set the maximum weekly schedule (always above the 90 minimum hours) and, in practice, guide the opening model (more or less broad).
• Determine, each year, the calendar of Sundays and holidays openings (which specific days are open, respecting the state minimum).
• Regulate areas of high tourist influx with full freedom of hours and the criteria and procedures to declare them, as Andalusia does in Decree 2/2014 on ZGAT.
• Establish public information obligations about hours, as well as the sanctioning regime for non-compliance, within respect to the basic state framework.

Autonomy statutes usually assign exclusive competence in internal commerce to the communities, “without prejudice” to the state bases. This clause allows the State to set a minimum freedom and the communities to develop the details.

Examples of autonomous models

Community of Madrid

The Community of Madrid has opted for a very liberal model. Law 2/2012 on Commercial Activity Dynamization removes the last autonomous restrictions and establishes that each merchant will determine “with full freedom and without any legal limitation” the holidays for opening throughout Madrid. It is an example of how a community can expand, but not reduce, the freedom recognized by Law 1/2004.

Catalonia

Catalonia has tried, on several occasions, a more restrictive model. Catalan laws on hours and internal commerce have been partially annulled when they cut below the state minimum the number of holidays openings or imposed time or spatial limitations incompatible with basic freedom. This is reflected, among others, in the cited rulings of 2016 and 2017, which declare null various provisions of Catalan hours regulations for invading basic state competence.

Andalusia and other communities

Andalusia, through rules such as Decree 2/2014 on areas of high tourist influx, focuses on modulating freedom of hours in tourist areas and adapting the holiday calendar to its reality. Other communities have approved their own internal commerce laws and provisions on opening calendars, which have been subject to constitutional control when they tried to lower the freedom levels set by the basic state regulation.

In summary, the competence distribution is articulated as follows: the State sets bases that guarantee a common minimum of freedom of commercial hours throughout the country, while the autonomous communities, exercising their internal commerce competences, develop and adapt those margins to their economic and social model, with the boundary marked by constitutional jurisprudence.