Black Friday kicks off Christmas shopping season in Malaga province

Black Friday marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. The American trend was imported to Spain several years ago and Malaga province is strongly committed to it, with sales of up to 50% in many shops and large chains.

In Malaga city, Black Friday coincides with the switching on of the Christmas lights (28 November). The festive atmosphere was on since the morning on Friday.

The people of Malaga have been waiting for weeks for the arrival of this day of discounts to place their first Christmas orders with Santa and the Three Wise Men. The people of Malaga city are expected to the be third biggest spenders in Spain this year. According to a study carried out by the Spanish society of consumers, people will spend around 245 euros on shopping, only surpassed by Madrid and Barcelona. The study also indicates that 88% of people plan to make a purchase on Black Friday.

Practically all shopping centres, large chains and small shops from different sectors in the province have joined the promotion offer. Shops in the city centre of Malaga have had posters advertising discounts of up to 50% hanging for several days. To the joy of many, Black Friday extends more and more every year, to the point where it often turns into Black Week.

While consumers indulge in discounts and take advantage of the day to do their Christmas shopping in advance, many businesses are neglected by the reality of Black Friday. Small and medium-size businesses cannot compete with the discounts of large chains. As this is the high season for the retail sector, 30% of small businesses in the province have decided not to participate in this year's campaign.

President of the Málaga Comercio federation Lorena García said that Black Friday is often viewed "with a certain scepticism because small businesses cannot compete with very aggressive campaigns", which creates "a certain amount of unfair competition".

President of Confederación Comercio Andalucía Rafael Bados shares the same opinion. According to him, Black Friday "is not designed for small and medium-size businesses", considering that it forces them to compete with offers that they cannot afford and brings forward purchases that would otherwise take place in December.

In spite of the negative outlook of some, the Malaga retail sector welcomes the Christmas campaign with optimism and a desire to improve. At the provincial level, Lorena García predicts an increase in turnover of around 3% over the whole period. "We are confident because more and more people are becoming aware of the value we bring them," she said.

Despite this generic figure, she highlights that not all sectors perform at the same pace, with technology currently doing much better than clothing and footwear. "Let's hope things pick up a bit from now on, because these sales are very dependent on the weather," she said.

According to the aforementioned study, this will be the most expensive Christmas in history and the people of Malaga will spend an average of 1,527 euros. As forecasts predict, they will only be surpassed by Madrid, Zaragoza and Vizcaya.

By categories, the people of Malaga will spend 80 euros on lottery tickets, 360 on food, 366 on gifts, 322 on toys, 265 on leisure and 134 on other items.