Negotiations on the 2027 business calendar are still underway in the Balearic Islands, and companies have decided to compromise on one of the issues that had divided employers and unions. The planned opening on Sunday, December 26, will be removed from the employers’ proposal and replaced with another on December 12, at the request of the labor unions.
The change may seem minor on paper—it’s simply a matter of swapping one opening day for another—but it has significant implications for an industry accustomed to negotiating the balance between business operations, workforce scheduling, and consumer demand every year.
The initial proposal had been agreed upon by the business organizations in late July. Now, AFEDECO, PIMECO, ASCOME, PIME Menorca, and PIMEEF—all members of the Balearic Confederation of Commerce—along with ASODIB, ACAIB, and ANGED, have decided to change one of the dates to bridge the gap with the unions. The rest of the schedule remains unchanged: January 3 and 17; March 1 and 25; May 2; November 1 and 28; December 6 and 19. Business leaders consider January 17 and March 1 to be interchangeable.
The choice of dates is also significant. December 26, a Christmas holiday, is excluded from the proposed schedule, while December 12 falls during one of the busiest phases of the holiday shopping season. For retailers, moving opening hours from after Christmas to the weeks leading up to it means concentrating activity during a period when sales are particularly significant.
The underlying issue is how to distribute the authorized opening days throughout the year and, in particular, how to align them with the needs of businesses and their employees. Each year, the business calendar thus becomes a minor tug-of-war between competitiveness, consumer spending, and working conditions.
With the change in date, the business community aims to facilitate an agreement with the unions and prevent negotiations from stalling over a specific point of contention. The new position will now be communicated to the unions and the relevant authorities, which must finalize the definitive schedule of Sundays and holidays on which stores may open for 2027.
More than just a shift of two Sundays on the calendar, the move reflects a pragmatic strategy: to compromise on one date in an effort to preserve the rest of the proposal and finalize as soon as possible the rules that will govern next year’s business activities.