At 9:00 a.m. this Sunday there was no one in Miguel Velázquez Square, the urban space that separates El Corte Inglés of Santa Cruz from the Nivaria Center Shopping Center. By 9:25 about 200 people had gathered. And at 9:30 a.m. they entered and spread out throughout the facility. It was like that, without further ado, everything was very normal. A morning had begun of exchanging those gifts that the Three Wise Men didn’t get right and looking for bargains. Neither in El Corte Inglés nor in the surrounding area was there an overflowing influx or any sales to get their hands on. This could have been a story of a bluff if it were not for the fact that the presence of buyers increased as the day progressed.
“I came because I wanted to resolve the changes as soon as possible and, if I can, take advantage of a discount due to the sales, but I am not so sure if I will achieve it,” said one of the early-rising shoppers who went to the opening of the doors. from El Corte Inglés. «There are quite a few people out here, but I have come before and, once everyone is spread out inside the shopping center, it is as if there were not so many. “It ends up saving time.” That’s how it went. Words from a veteran client.
Starting at noon. After noon, things had changed substantially. The famous Castillo Street was full, there were queues, the shopping atmosphere was palpable. Meanwhile, the situation in Meridiano Shopping Center It was similar. You could even say that she was bordering on being overwhelmed. And the first day of the hypothetical bargains after Christmas has its rituals that all generations follow. The image in the Meridiano hallways was eloquent: young people exchanging technology for more technology, parents looking for clothes and accessories at the best possible price and, meanwhile, older people resting in the armchairs while the rest of the family moved between stores. The image was worthy of anthropological analysis. There were people of all ages, skins – including urban tribes – and origins. From the capital, from the Metropolitan Area, from the North, from the South… Queues and crowds in practically all the establishments, frenetic activity of controllers and security guards, shop assistants who did not provide anything…
Nessrine is a Moroccan resident in Adeje who had traveled to the capital this Sunday with his family who had arrived from Luxembourg and with the idea of buying something because they were sure they would find good prices. Another case was that of Javi and Cristo, teenagers who, at least initially, limited themselves to watching. They were wearing the shirts of the Tenerife Sports Club. As they pointed out, it was a derby day for them – out of state since they did not have a ticket – and they had decided to start shopping, although they did not see many offers.
Hard work day. «It is starting off calmly for those of us who have had other years in store. “Not everyone knows that shopping centers are also open on Sunday,” a shop assistant kindly expressed her first sensations of the morning, while foreseeing that the afternoon would be, if possible, more intense, given that she would be working throughout the day. Sunday day.
The best discounts were around 50%, although not all businesses had fully committed to them. There were establishments in which these were in the background and many of them offered discounts of 20% or 30%.
«I have the impression that everything is more or less the same as it has been in recent weeks. Even in some stores you go in and there may be something on sale, but few products. “I think I’m going to go to lunch without having found anything I was looking for,” said Ana María, a 54-year-old neighbor who was walking around the Nuestra Señora de África Market after noon. Carlos, Saúl and David, three high school classmates, were also there, heading towards the Rastro. «We went out more for a walk, but also to see if there is something cheap, but we haven’t seen much. My mother did tell me that in the Meridiano there are an incredible number of people,” commented Carlos on behalf of his friends, who had the plan for this day to continue looking at a store, eat and watch the game together, and with other colleagues. Tenerife-Las Palmas.
The lagoon. In the City of the Adelantados, whose helmet has been so fashionable for years, the image was different from that of the capital. Around 1:00 p.m. there was more of an atmosphere of terrace normal of a Sunday than shopping. A good part of the main businesses in the area were open, but there were also those who opted for rest.
“I came to see if I could find something cheap, but I haven’t seen much,” said Juan Manuel García, a resident of Santa Cruz who had decided to go to old Aguere to spend the morning. “I imagined that there would be a lot of stress downstairs today and the truth is that lately I have gotten used to doing most of my shopping here and in Alcampo,” he said. “But today, to be honest, I have found little or nothing, apart from the fact that there are also stores that have not opened today,” he said about his impressions of the sales.
Another passerby added to the idea that there was a lack of atmosphere in Aguere. «There are people, the stores are open…;_but I don’t know, it’s like it was less than I expected. Turning on the lights was crazy, White Night was the same, Santa Claus, the parade, some days of shopping… And this is different, calmer. But almost better that way. It is curious that, accustomed to large crowds, when the situation is more normal it even seems strange,” he reflected.
The truth is that there was more reality than sensation in not finding anything cheap. And it even has a technical explanation. Starting in 2012, there was a law decree that liberalized discounts. What did that mean? From that moment on, any establishment can set the discount period it deems appropriate throughout the year. Conclusion: until now, the existence of a clear and marked period of sales has been progressively diluted.
Good sensations. The data on the liberalization of discounts is provided by the president of the Federation of Urban Areas of Canary Islands (Fauca), Abbas Moujir, who, already during the afternoon, had a good feeling about the day’s passing. «There has been quite a lot of movement. Perhaps today the topic of changes has been mixed up a lot with the purchases themselves; perhaps it has been a day more of exchange than shopping. We believe that the sales will be in line with how the Christmas and Epiphany campaign has gone and, therefore, we trust that at least during the first two weeks there will be a good campaign in terms of sales,” said the sector leader.
Despite the aforementioned liberalization of sales, and in general terms, this discount campaign will last from this Sunday until March 6, a consequence of the old tradition of sales lasting two months. “It is also true that, from the second or third week, one begins to find the products on sale with the new season,” said Moujir, who highlighted that this year there will be an additional element: the period of Carnivalbecause those holidays are in 2024 very close to the beginning of the year.
“There were people, but more because of changes and without being that madness of many years ago, in which sales were a very marked date, and that has already been diluted,” Abbas Moujir added. And he continued: “There are establishments that consider it appropriate to advance sales or be continuously on discount, while there are others that understand that the sales periods have to remain the same.”
