New Year's sales underway

Spain’s traditional New Year sales began today across most of the country. Madrid and Murcia had an early start on the other regions with starting before the usual starting point of after the three kings fiesta.

Massive discounts are expected on many products, but it is likely that the savings seen will be a little less than those on offer a year ago when the country was in the early stages of recession. However, discounts of as much as 50% are expected from today, and the FUCI Federation of Independent consumers has calculated that each person will spend an average of 95€ in the sales this year - 10% less than a year ago, with the majority being spent on clothes. Madrilenos are expected to spend slightly more at 108 Euros per head.

Consumers groups have warned against excessive and unnecessary spending in order to keep finances and debt in check. The regulations concerning sales in Spain are rigorous in Spain – for example defective goods are not allowed to be promoted as sale items, and all items on sale must have been offered in the same store previously at a higher cost. However shops are not obliged to change or give money back on sale items, so the consumer must fully check everything before purchase.

The new year sales generally last for a month in the majority of regions, but are extended to two months in Cantabria and Galicia.