The Lanzarote municipalities of San Bartolomé and Yaiza, which join Arrecife, Tías and Teguise, will also have the possibility of expanding their commercial equipment, although categorized in different commercial attraction zones. This is reflected in the draft Decree of the Regional Government regulating the procedure for granting a specific commercial license and establishing the general criteria for commercial equipment appropriate to the real consumption and purchasing needs of the population of the Canary Islands Autonomous Community.
San Bartolomé, at the request of the Island Council, is located in the commercial attraction zone grade II. "This means that the municipality has more meters to expand commercially and that it is given the same category as Arrecife and Tías," said Lourdes Bernal, Councilor for Industry, Commerce and Consumption of the Island Council, upon leaving the Island Commerce Commission held this Wednesday, which also participated from Las Palmas, via videoconference, the Director General of Commerce of the Canary Islands Government, Arturo Cabrera González.
Yaiza
Likewise, the municipality of Yaiza, on its own initiative, was included in the commercial attraction zone grade III, as is Teguise. Bernal clarified that the Cabildo did not allege in this regard for the southern municipality because the City Council did not transfer the concern to the First Island Corporation. For these purposes, III is an area that is below II, but also offers great possibilities for commercial development. Cities such as Las Palmas de Gran Canaria or Santa Cruz de Tenerife, among others, reach, with grade I, the maximum commercial attraction zone existing in the Canary Islands.
The members of the Island Commerce Commission agreed to categorize San Bartolomé and Yaiza. The meeting was also attended by: the Chamber of Commerce of Las Palmas, the city councils of Arrecife and Yaiza, Felapyme, the Comisiones Obreras and UGT unions and an Association of Consumers of Las Palmas. The latter did not agree with the draft presented, while Yaiza conditioned its approval to the inclusion of the municipality in the commercial attraction zone grade III, as was finally decided. All members of the Commission expressed their discomfort because the draft Decree was sent for study late this Friday afternoon.
Definition of categories
The Government, together with the classification of the different types of commercial establishments, establishes a list of areas according to categories, established according to their capacity to attract commercial demand. These areas are those that are called commercial attraction zones.
The grade II zone, which includes the Lanzarote municipalities of Arrecife, Tías and San Bartolomé, is defined in the Decree as a zone constituted by one or more municipalities with an area of influence greater than their administrative territorial areas, but which by themselves do not constitute an attractive commercial focus for the entire island where they are located. For their part, grade III zones, such as Yaiza and Teguise, are considered demographic agglomerations formed by one or more municipalities, which as a whole generate a consumption capacity that justifies a minimum commercial equipment of a daily nature without this implying the constant attraction of customers from other municipalities.
The rest of the municipalities of Lanzarote, Haría and Tinajo, are classified in the commercial attraction zone grade IV, which is defined in the Decree as a commercial equipment zone that provides services to the inhabitants who reside in their municipal district, making the acquisition of daily products in the same municipality. Therefore, its commercial expansion will be more limited.
Control to avoid saturation
The Decree establishes that, depending on the possibilities of current demand and the characteristics of the commercial equipment existing in a certain commercial attraction zone, the application for installation, modification or expansion of large commercial establishments and hard discount and balance sales establishments will be denied when it is considered that the affected territorial area is saturated with this type of facilities.
The maximum sales area is established based on a relationship between the actual population of each zone and the square meters allowed for each type of commercial establishment. Thus, in the case of hypermarkets, the permitted index is 0.04 m² per inhabitant; department stores, 0.04 m² per inhabitant; other large multipurpose commercial establishments, 0.01 m² per inhabitant; supermarkets, 0.03 m² per inhabitant; large commercial establishments specializing in home equipment, 0.02 m² per inhabitant; large commercial establishments specializing in construction material equipment, sanitation, hardware and DIY, 0.03 m² per inhabitant; large establishments specializing in furniture equipment, 0.04 m² per inhabitant and finally for hard discount establishments an index of 0.002 m² per inhabitant is set.
The procedures for commercial license applications that are being processed at the entry into force of the Decree in question will be governed by the criteria and saturation levels provided for therein and in accordance with the procedure established in the regulations in force at the time of the specific commercial license application.
Complying with the Law
Law 10/2003, of April 3, regulating the specific commercial license, provides that the Government issue, within six months from the entry into force of the Law, the regulatory provisions necessary for its development. Much later, the General Directorate of Commerce complies with the aforementioned provision.
