City of Split works around new no Sunday trading law

Split

The amended Trade Act came into force in Croatia on 1 July, meaning shops can only open on 16 Sundays per year. Retailers can choose the 16 Sundays to trade on throughout the year.

However, the city of Split are going to use a loophole, by declaring ‘fair days’, to let businesses trade on Sundays throughout the rest of the tourist season, daily 24sata reported. 

In the city of Split, the days of August 13th, 15th (public holiday), 20th, and 27th, as well as September 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th, have been designated as fair days, according to the decision of Mayor Ivica Puljak, aimed at promotional and tourist activities, stated the city in a press release.

According to the mentioned decision, the special sales at kiosks, stands, and similar locations, as part of the fair activities, can start at 8 AM and conclude by 12 AM.

“With the new Trade Law, the livelihood of small businesses and shops can be seriously threatened, especially when they depend on the tourist season, and every working day is important to them. Therefore, we want to help them in this way and enable them to operate on days when it is otherwise prohibited,” said Mayor Ivica Puljak.

The association “Glas poduzetnika” (Voice of Entrepreneurs) yesterday called on mayors and municipal chiefs to allow all entrepreneurs who wish to work on Sundays, holidays, and festive days by declaring events or fair days.

The Croatian Craftsmen and Entrepreneurs Association (UGP) points out that, following the provisions of the Amendments to the Trade Law that came into effect on July 1st, which prohibit work on Sundays and holidays and restrict working hours for shops, allowing the use of 16 working Sundays per year, excluding holidays, the absurdity of such a law was evident on the Victory Day public holiday on August 5th, and how it harms the business of many entrepreneurs in the retail sector.

Many coastal towns, such as Hvar and Podgora, have made decisions to declare August 5th and August 15th (a public holiday) as fair days in their areas for promotional and tourist activities, allowing for special sales at kiosks, stands, and similar facilities.