The Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises in Mallorca makes this call to prevent it from ending up being a “meaningless” working day and blames the political parties for having removed Palma’s patron saint’s day from the public holiday calendar

PIMEM-Comercio encourages small businesses to lower their shutters for Sant Sebastià “for the sake of coherence and to vindicate Palma’s patron saint”. The association believes that this is the way to “let citizens and visitors feel the festival of Sant Sebastià” and believes that the closure of trade “is more than justified because what it is about is that the whole city can enjoy the festival, something understandable and logical for any community that wants to claim their patron saint or patron saint,” he said in a statement.

The vice-president of PIMEM-Comercio, Miquel Àngel Salvà, has regretted the political decision not to declare Sant Sebastià a public holiday in Palma: “For the first time it is not a public holiday in Palma for Sant Sebastià, something that is unthinkable in Valencia for Sant Josep and its fallas, the Mercè in Barcelona or Sant Joan in Ciutadella”. The association of small businesses recalls that “this date was voted unanimously by all political parties, so nothing further from criticizing only the current government of Cort but we extend it to all opposition. It is incomprehensible to change Sant Sebastià for Sant Joan. It seems to be a decision taken by politicians who have been living in Palma for two days”, they add.

Another of the reasons given by PIMEM-Comercio for closing commercial establishments next Saturday are “the planned activities, which directly or indirectly end up affecting the activity of consumers. For the vice-president, “the bicycle gymkhana and the concerts the night before invite to a calm and relaxed morning, more thought for family activities or post-concert rest than shopping”.