Spain’s most popular supermarket has announced that it will be open for longer in areas of high-tourist concentration during the peak summer months, closing later on weekdays and opening on Sundays.
Spain’s major supermarket chain Mercadona is set to extend its timetable over the summer season, with a focus on touristy areas of the country.
The peak tourist months lead to a surge in commercial activity in July and August, forcing many businesses to adapt their services to meet higher demand. For a chain as market dominant as Mercadona, this increases significantly during the summer.
Mercadona will therefore introduce special summer opening hours from 22nd June until August 30th.
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The measure will affect 320 stores, mainly located in popular holiday spots, where visitor numbers spike at this time of year.
The main change will be the extension of opening hours, with supermarkets included in this scheme being open from 9.00 am until 10.00 pm, a half hour extension on the usual 9.30 pm.
Over summer, however, as well as extending opening hours on weekdays, Mercadona will also apply one of the most notable exceptions to its commercial policy: the opening of certain supermarkets on Sundays and some public holidays.
In these high-tourist concentration areas, the stores will open on Sunday mornings at 9.00 am and remain open until 3.00 pm.
This is uncommon in a country where most supermarkets and shops close on the last day of the week.
The changes will affect supermarkets located in some of the country’s most popular tourist destinations.
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These will include coastal towns in the Valencian region such as Cullera, Benidorm, Dénia, Jávea, Peñíscola, Oropesa del Mar and Benicàssim.
Also included are towns in other popular summer destinations, such as Marbella, Ibiza, Salou, Lloret de Mar and Sanxenxo.
However, note that Mercadona currently has more than 1,600 supermarkets across Spain and only 320 of them will open on Sundays.
You can check the opening hours of each store in advance using the search tool available on its website here.
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