Drop by drop, the small shops of the city are disappearing. This is a silent process that may go unnoticed, but whose consequences are obvious. The loss of small trade is a social tragedy that many cities in the world suffer and which has gained a great deal in recent years in Donostia-San Sebastián.

According to the barometer of the city's economy, in ten years the retail trade of Donostia-San Sebastian has lost 21.7%, one in five stores. And the current trend is no more hopeful. In fact, 2,653 small businesses were registered in the city in 2018, 106 less than in 2017, and many have joined this sad list over the past year.

This decline in shops of all life contrasts with the increase in hospitality in the city, which in the last two years has grown by 25.6%, and the causes are quite obvious. Although each trade that is closed has its own reality, it is enough to talk to its owners for five minutes to detect the existence of some factors that are repeated in most cases: lack of relief, unbearable prices of premises, competition from department stores, influence of new consumption models…

The future is black for lifelong trade, that is the reality. But there are traders who refuse to give in. Some of them have started to take action and have just created the Ba Gera partnership. The association was presented last November with the objective of giving a voice to the commercial, hospitality and service companies of all neighborhoods, and already has more than 50 establishments in the city. Benito Pastor is one of his spokespersons: “We have created a partnership between those businesses that we disagree with the City Hall’s attitude towards small commerce. We didn’t feel replaced by anyone.”

Difficulties, increasingly serious

Surely, being a trader has never been an easy task. Now, however, they say it's harder than ever. In fact, Donostia-San Sebastian is an increasingly foreign place for citizens who want to open or maintain a trade, for different reasons.

One of them, the most direct in the vendor's pocket, is perhaps the price of the city's premises. The increase in the square metre not only affects households, but has also been the economy of traders that has suffered the increased rental of premises. “We are suffering the consequences of speculation,” Pastor explained, “and it is becoming an unsustainable situation. How can you ask for a rent of 4,000, 5,000 or 6,000 euros for a small trade?”

The problem is that, as prices rise, more and more owners decide to sell their premises. And although it's still about to see if the bubble would erupt or not, the wave of speculation has already led to many small businesses ahead.

As serious as the increase in expenditure, however, is the scarcity of revenue and, for traders, the influence of department stores and shopping centres is suffocating in this regard. PASTOR explained that small shops are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with those larger than them and that the attitude of the institutions is even more unbalanced: “The City Hall reiterates its intention to protect small shops, but all the investment in the Christmas lights is transferred to the Center, where there are department stores, outside the neighborhoods.”

Similarly, Ba Gera believes that strategies to support traditional trade and the promotion of commercial spaces are incompatible: “Dbus, a municipal service, increases your transport service to Garbera during the Christmas season. A public service for the benefit of a private mall. When I was young, nightclubs put their own bus to transport customers.”

In the long term, however, the youth consumption model is the risk factor that most concerns small trade. In fact, as with traders, there has also been a noticeable lack of relief among customers who come to the establishment. The habit of buying over the Internet is becoming more and more entrenched in society, and competing against it seems a difficult challenge, but something needs to be done.

There is no lack of proposals

Understanding that the loss of small shops is not a problem for traders alone, Ba Gerak believes that public institutions should help them in one way or another. However, according to Pastor, there is currently no municipal policy capable of responding to the problems of the city's merchants: “Every now and then they campaign, but that doesn’t affect our reality.”

As a first step towards effective measures, the Member of Ba Gera believes that the City Hall should listen more to small business traders: “It seems that sometimes they don’t realize the reality of our city. Let them feel with us and let us analyze together how we can energize neighborhoods and what model of society we want.”

In the opinion of Pastor, in order to change the situation, it is essential to provide citizens with access to shops: “In other cities in the Basque Country, during Christmas, the OTA is removed. And for the people of the province, for example, they can install dissuasive parking spaces abroad, offering free transportation services access to the city.”

In addition, in order to alleviate the economic difficulties of traders, the Ba Gera member has proposed reducing the taxes that the institutions impose on small businesses: “In proportion, we pay far more tax money than those who are older than us, and that should not be the case.”

PASTY (RDE). — (FR) Mr President, I should like to begin by congratulating Mr Pasty on his excellent report. “Traders have to double what neighbors pay when 90% of the population generates more garbage than a trade. In our opinion, this doesn’t make sense either.”

The social model at stake

The member of Ba Gera wants to make it clear that small shops are more than small shops: “We are talking about a model of society.” In his opinion, in the future without shops, the city’s streets would lose their “humanity”, unraveling the relationships between citizens.

Traders have repeatedly denounced that the loss of traditional trade has made many older people feel increasingly lost in the city, as they have lost their references. In addition, there are numerous old trades lost or about to disappear in recent years in Donostia-San Sebastián, and it is also worrying that the premises owned by the first citizens are being held in the hands of large companies, increasingly.

Small shops are disappearing. In fact, it is enough to walk down the street during the night to notice the lack of light in the places where there were shops before. San Sebastian is shutting down, yes, but the passion of traders shows that the future does not have to be dark.

And what do city traders say?

“If you have a problem, you’ll find someone willing to help in the store below home”

Óscar González

RUCAL ELECTRICITY · Opened since 1969 · Old Party

“The truth is that things are very bad. On the one hand, shopping malls, department stores and the Internet do us a lot of damage, and on the other hand, we get very close to taxes and controls. So things, we just have to survive. At least in the Old Party, we are resistance. I think people have to understand that small businesses have added value in dealing with customers. Even though we don't buy anything, we always give them the explanations they need. If you have a problem, in the store below home you’ll find someone willing to help you.”

“If I had to rate the state of small trade from zero to ten, I would put two.”

Ana Arias - Camison

LOOK CLOTHING SHOP · Open since 1976 · Middle Area

“Our store has always stayed with sustainable customers who have come in all times of the year, but that’s changing. We offer medium-high end products, but today young people buy clothing that lasts six months. They prefer to change a lot and consume a lot before buying quality products that last for ten years. That is where we have a big problem, because in that context we cannot compete. If I had to rate the state of small commerce from zero to ten, I would put two.”

“Not everything is selling. We have a relationship with customers and I feel like I’m out of their home”

Mikel Arrillaga

MIKEL HARSTRATEGY · Opened since 1993 · Antigua

“The Old is like a small town, and fortunately, here the shop is always moving a lot of people. Small shops offer closeness, not everything is selling. The client who comes here speaks to us. We have a relationship, and that's very valuable. I feel like I belong to her house. However, it is not easy to compete with supermarkets. The City Hall says many times that small shops must be helped, but then it gives permission to build more shopping malls. They say one thing and then do the other.”

“The lives of shops and neighborhoods are always tied because if one dies, the other will also die.”

Pili Citores

ZAPATERÍA CITORES · Opened since 1969 · Egia

“Before we sold shoes, but due to the drop in sales, a few years ago we left that and we started to fix the shoes so we could keep with the store. However, the situation has deteriorated again. The trade in the neighbourhoods is about to die, and those of us who continue here inexorably survive without help. Institutions only hinder us and, if they help us, they collaborate with the malls. However, the lives of shops and neighborhoods are always united, because if one dies, the other will also die.”

“With the metro station in La Concha, they condemn the shops of the neighborhoods to die”

Lola Alonso

LA DALIA · Opened since 1929 · Gros

“In Miraculous Street we have had some shops for a long time, but many others have been closed and the street looks rather sad. Here was a great life, but with every shutdown, that's been lost. For people, getting here is not easy, because the road in front of us is very fast and you can't stop. I think they drive the population towards the beach. The metro station is set up in La Concha itself and condemns us to die the shops we are in the neighborhoods.”

“When I retire, the store will disappear because my children will not continue with it.”

Benito Pastor

ETC INFORMATICS · Opened since 1992 · Amara Berri

“Many shops in the city are closing for lack of relief. In my case, that will be the case. I've been with the store for 30 years, but when you retire, the store will disappear with me, my kids won't follow the store. To this problem is added the difficulty of opening up new shops. In fact, most of those who start are not even two years old. What is going to be lost with all this? Well, the humanity of the streets. The shops of the neighborhoods are the communication between the citizens, they are meeting points and, defending them, we are defending a model of society”.