MADRID — Barcelona retailers are bracing for losses of up to 25 percent this week as increasingly violent protests hit major shopping and tourism spots, erasing gains from otherwise healthy sales from Spain’s strong economy.
“Luxury shops and stores in the center [Central Barcelona] will probably see losses of 20 percent to 25 percent this week, also as tomorrow [Friday] we will be closed for a major demonstration,” said Luis Sanz, president of the Associació del Passeig de Gràcia, which supports merchants in the city’s main upmarket shopping street, Passeig de Gràcia.
The area is home to some 50 luxury retailers, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès and Burberry, and most recently Isabel Marant. It is also the location of many of the city’s top hotels, which have said the protests have hit bookings, with reservations falling by as much as 80 percent.
The upheaval began Monday following the jailing of nine separatist leaders for up to 13 years in the Barcelona home province of Catalonia. Spain’s Supreme Court charged them with alleged crimes of sedition, misuse of public funds and disobedience for orchestrating an illegal referendum in 2017 to break away from Spain.
The riots resulted in hundreds of people being injured and will
“Luxury shops and stores in the center [Central Barcelona] will probably see losses of 20 percent to 25 percent this week, also as tomorrow [Friday] we will be closed for a major demonstration,” said Luis Sanz, president of the Associació del Passeig de Gràcia, which supports merchants in the city’s main upmarket shopping street, Passeig de Gràcia.
The area is home to some 50 luxury retailers, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès and Burberry, and most recently Isabel Marant. It is also the location of many of the city’s top hotels, which have said the protests have hit bookings, with reservations falling by as much as 80 percent.
The upheaval began Monday following the jailing of nine separatist leaders for up to 13 years in the Barcelona home province of Catalonia. Spain’s Supreme Court charged them with alleged crimes of sedition, misuse of public funds and disobedience for orchestrating an illegal referendum in 2017 to break away from Spain.
The riots resulted in hundreds of people being injured and will