The deputy spokesperson for Sumar and Compromís MP, Alberto Ibáñez, has announced that he will register in Congress a bill to modify the commercial opening hours regulations and limit the margin available to autonomous communities, so that there is no "open bar" to authorize the opening of shops every Sunday.
In statements to Europa Press, Ibáñez has pointed out that currently one works more on Sunday than ten or twenty years ago, a reality that, in his opinion, "is not progressive" and that forces to propose a solution from the legislative sphere.
The initiative that the Compromís deputy will take to the Lower House, once Easter Week has passed, will consist of a legal reform aimed at restricting regional powers regarding commercial opening hours.
Criticism of "full freedom" in Madrid
In territories like the Community of Madrid, Ibáñez has recalled, the Law for the Dynamization of Commercial Activity is in force, promoted by Esperanza Aguirre in 2012, which grants merchants the possibility to set "with full freedom and without any legal limitation throughout the territory of the Community of Madrid, the Sundays and holidays on which they will carry out their commercial activity".
The deputy questions this type of regulation and the fact that there is "open bar" to open any Sunday. Although he recognizes that limiting that time freedom can generate controversy, given that many people only have Sunday available to shop, he insists on the need to debate the social impact of this model.
Along those lines, he/she has stressed that "buying a pair of pants on Sunday exhausts many women, because they are mostly feminized workers, and prevents many families from having work-life balance, prevents many people from being able to have a social life and I believe we have to have this reflection".
He/She has also criticized that in the areas declared of great tourist influx, the regulations have allowed there to be cities where shops open every Sunday of the year, something that he/she considers "is not normal" nor "progressive".
For this reason, a proposal will advance to put an end to this special regime and has sent a message to the right-wing parties so that they support the measure: "I hope that the Christian right of this country understands that Sunday for them is for going to mass, not for going shopping."
Clash in the Government over time registration
On the other hand, Alberto Ibáñez has referred to the internal conflict in the Government regarding the reform of time registration. Sumar defends going ahead with this modification despite the contrary opinion of the Council of State and the reservations of the Minister of Economy and newly appointed First Vice President, Carlos Cuerpo.
The reform of the time registration, aimed at preventing the manipulation of working hours and at enabling the Labor Inspectorate to remotely verify the hours worked, is being promoted by the Ministry of Labor headed by Yolanda Díaz.
The Council of State, advisory body to the Executive, issued an unfavorable opinion, understanding that the new system does not adequately adapt to the different sectors and that it will entail an additional burden for SMEs. Likewise, it criticized that the modification be processed by royal decree and not through a rule with the force of law.
At the same time, Sumar has accused the Ministry of Economy of Carlos Cuerpo of sending reports to the Council of State "like a madman" to promote that critical pronouncement. Despite this, the conclusions of the Council of State are not binding and Labor has decided to maintain its roadmap.
In this context, Ibáñez has reproached that neither Cuerpo, nor the Council of State, nor the PSOE are being "loyal", given that the measure aims to address the problem of overtime in Spain, a commitment included in the Government agreement between PSOE and Sumar.
The deputy maintains that this issue remains fully current and has warned the PSOE of the risk of aligning itself with the discourse of the right and of the employers' association, which, according to him, maintains that people "are lazy and shirk going to work", when the reality, in his opinion, is very different.
"The reality is that in this country people go to work sick because they are afraid of losing their job (...) and the reality is that in this country more unpaid overtime hours are worked than ever before," Ibáñez has concluded.