2,226 small shops have closed since the recession hit the Balearics

Apart from construction, the  high street retail sector has  been  one of the hardest hit by the recession.
According to the latest report from the National Statistics Institute, over the past seven years, since the Spanish economy crashed, 2,226 small to medium sized retail outlets have closed across the Balearics.
The last figure was for 1 January, 2014, and, for the past year, the figures are not yet available, but according to small business associations like PIMECO, conditions have improved and they do not expect the number of shop closures to be as sharp as during the previous years.
In fact, there are reports of an upturn in the sector. For example in November, the small to medium sized retailers posted the highest takings inSpain.
Business grew by 4.4 percent in November, well above the national average of 0.5 percent and, new jobs are being created in the sector.
Over the course of last year, the number of people employed in the independent retail sector rose by nearly three percent and that trend is expected to continue rising.