How late will the supermarkets be open on New Year's Eve in Spain?

The 31st December is the last day of the year. And it's a date marked in red on the calendar to sit down at the table and toast in the New Year. As tradition dictates, New Year's Eve brings with it large gatherings of family and friends. The most forward-thinking will have everything prepared in advance. However, the latecomers will once again be making last-minute visits to the supermarket to stock up on forgotten items. The question is, what is the absolute deadline?

On that particular day supermarkets will be open across Spain, although with special opening hours that are different from usual. Shopping centres will also be open but with reduced hours in the case of most stores. Take note of the following to avoid any surprises!

Mercadona

On 31 December, Mercadona supermarkets will open from 9am to 7pm, as they did on Christmas Eve. Like the rest of the major chains in Spain, they will close on 1 January.

Lidl Lidl

The German retailer will open its shops from 9am to 7pm this Tuesday and, after the New Year's Day break, will resume its normal opening hours on Thursday 2 January.

Carrefour

In addition to its hypermarkets (which will close on the last day of the year at 7pm), the French company has Express and Market stores in many areas across Spain with different opening hours, so it is often useful to use the online store finder to clarify any doubts.

Aldi

Aldi's opening hours - as on Christmas Eve - will be from 9am to 6 pm, uninterrupted.

Día

Día supermarkets will be open to the public on Tuesday 31 December with special opening hours, so that they will also be open from nine in the morning to six in the evening.

Maskom

On 31 December, the Maskom supermarket chain will also change its usual opening hours so that its employees can enjoy New Year's Eve, and will therefore remain open from 9.30 am to 6.30 pm.

Eroski

On New Year's Eve, most of its stores wll have reduced opening hours until 7pm. On 1 January, like the rest of the major supermarket chains, they will be closed.

Hipercor

Hipercor stores' opening hours will also change on Tuesday, so it will be from nine in the morning to seven in the evening, the same as the rest of the El Corte Inglés centres.

As for shopping centres and department stores, all of them will change their opening hours this Tuesday and will close their establishments earlier. In Malaga city, for example, the Centro Larios and Vialia will close at 8pm - although some of their stores will close at 6pm. Other retail parks such as Málaga Nostrum will be open to the public until 7pm.