Shopping centres in Barcelona and its area open on October 12

Hispanic Day is one of the eight public holidays when shops in Catalonia can open. Large stores in the metropolitan area and Maremàgnum maintain their usual hours.

The day of October 12, the Hispanic Day holiday, raises the usual question among consumers about which shops will open. In Catalonia, this day is included in the official calendar as one of the eight holidays when establishments can open to the public, as reported by elperiodico.com.

The regional regulation is not uniform in practice. Each municipality can replace up to two of those dates with Sundays or local holidays, and the centres themselves then decide whether to open all their shops, just the leisure and dining options, or none at all. It is common for some shops to adjust their hours the day before the holiday.

In the metropolitan area of Barcelona, most large stores will operate normally. Viladecans The Style Outlets, Ànec Blau (Castelldefels), Gran Via 2 (L'Hospitalet de Llobregat), Mataró Parc, Màgic Badalona, Splau (Cornellà de Llobregat), Barnasud (Gavà), Finestrelles (Esplugues de Llobregat), Baricentro (Barberà del Vallès), Sant Cugat Centre Comercial, and La Roca Village (La Roca del Vallès) will open their doors between 9:00 and 21:00, with variations depending on the area.

In the city of Barcelona, the municipal calendar allows commercial openings during this holiday. The Maremàgnum remains the only shopping centre in the capital that can open 365 days a year, an exception it has maintained for years due to its location and characteristics.

For shoppers heading out this Monday, it is recommended to check the centre's website or social media before leaving, as the number of open shops may vary compared to a regular Sunday. Dining and leisure spaces are usually the first to confirm their activity, while large fashion and electronics chains decide just a few days in advance.

"Openings are subject to the commercial calendar of each autonomous community, which establishes which days shops can open and under what conditions," recalls the regional regulation.

The situation is different in other communities, where October 12 does not always appear among the business days for commerce. In Catalonia, the coincidence with a holiday Monday allows commercial activity to continue in much of the territory, especially in areas with high tourist traffic and in the commercial axes of the metropolitan area.