The City Council will ask the Andalusian Government to reduce the freedom of commercial hours in CórdobaFRANCISCO GONZALEZ
The City Council of Córdoba will ask the Andalusian Government to reduce the freedom of business hours in Córdoba that has prevailed since last year, although it will request the company that has carried out the study of the Areas of Large Tourist Influx (ZGAT) that concrete whether the area of influence should be limited to the historic centre or the entire city centre.
These are the two main conclusions that have been derived from the ZGAT commission, held this afternoon and which was chaired by the first deputy mayor, Blanca Torrent; the delegate of Commerce, Julian Urbanoand the Tourism delegate, Danel García Ibarrola. At this meeting it was agreed, once the geographical issue was delimited, to submit the study carried out by the company Lógica Plural Consultora to analyze the impact that the expansion of the ZGAT has had on the city and whose results have been known this week.
What the study said
In this study, which was commissioned by the Plenary Session of Córdoba, It is recommended to reduce the current delimitation of the areas where freedom of commercial hours is decreed because they coincide with the entire municipal area, and also reduce the time in which said liberalization can be applied. At the moment, The ZGAT is applied in the months of April, May, September and October and in Easter throughout Córdoba.
Members of the ZGAT commission, meeting today.
Historic center or center
The commission, which is made up of social and economic agents and municipal groups, assumes the recommendation of the study to that the ZGAT be established only in the months of April, May, October and Easter, but asks the consultant to specify whether it should be limited to the historic centre (exclusively the World Heritage zone) or to the centre. If it is the latter case, they also ask that it be defined exactly which streets would be affected by the ZGAT.
In either case, if the Board gave the go-ahead, Córdoba would return to the previous situation when the figure that regulates the free opening of businesses (the ZGAT) and the opening hours It was limited to the historic center area and only for two periods certain times of the year: Holy Week and the month of May (those with the greatest tourist influx).
From the PSOE they have complained to the Board since the beginning of the meetings of this commission that The new ZGAT for Córdoba is decreed automatically, ex officio, and we do not have to wait until 2025. Socialist councilor Carmen González defends that the Andalusian administration “has always maintained that the change in Córdoba was due to a defect in form and that there is no political will on the part of the Andalusian administration to maintain freedom schedule, so there should be no problem for it to be set automatically,” he says.
History of the ZGAT in Córdoba
The ZGAT declaration is renewed every four years and since this figure was created in Córdoba there has only been one High Tourist Zone limited to the historic center of the city, which also coincided with the area declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. From 2019 to 2022, business hours in that area were free only during Easter and the month of May. This balance agreement has survived with the approval of the employers’ association, Comercio Córdoba, and under the watchful eye of large stores – which have always demanded greater flexibility – and the critical vision of the unions in the face of a possible expansion of the area, understanding that it would mean a reduction in labor rights and conciliation.
In September 2022, the Córdoba City Council requested the Andalusian Government to declare again Large Tourist Zone (ZGAT) only the historic center of the city during two specific periods: Holy Week and the month of May. However, the Plenary Session of Córdoba ended up desisting from its proposal after a change of regulations (with a ruling from the Supreme Court included) and given the possibility that the Andalusian Government – having not conveniently accredited the City Council why it requested that the declaration be only for the town – would end up declaring it an area of great tourist influx. tthe entire municipal area of Córdoba throughout the year. That the ZGAT were going to stay in 4 months was then understood by the Plenary and by Comercio Córdoba as the best of the worst news for the sector.
Now, the City Council intends to return to that moment in 2022 after the study has proven that more employment has not been generated, as some defended with free time in commerce.
