The controversy arose after the President of the Tarragona Chamber of Commerce, Laura Roigé, demanded that establishments in the capital of Tarragona open on holidays to serve cruise visitors. Roigé accused Mayor Rubén Viñuales of “stubbornness” for maintaining closures.
The classification of Tarragona as a tourist city or the expansion of a specific area as a tourist zone during certain times of the year would only benefit large surfaces initially, which is currently not a priority in a city that fortunately grows in tourist activity every year.
The consistory regrets Roigé's “unfortunate and institutionally disrespectful” tone and insists that shops under 400 square meters are already allowed to open on Sundays. Furthermore, they emphasize that in the Part Alta (Old Town), establishments already open regularly on Sundays.
The Tarragona City Council maintains that classifying the city as a tourist municipality requires an “independent” viability study. The socialist government accused Laura Roigé of defending a “window dressing tourism model” and of “totally disregarding the opinion of workers, unions, representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, local commerce in Tarragona, and showing zero sensitivity towards the rest of the workers.”
