Catalonia begins the process to regulate dark stores or ghost stores, urban warehouses stocked with supermarket items that only deliver to homes and do not sell physically. If there are no last minute changes, the Government will approve today in the Executive Council the draft to modify the law of Commerce, serveis and fires, as well as the decree law of Management of commercial facilities to start its parliamentary processing and approve the regulations before the end of the year if it gathers the necessary support. In the event that the Government Council delays approval this Tuesday, the intention is to release it as soon as possible.
These types of businesses have proliferated in recent years and with them problems of coexistence with other stores or with the residents of the areas in which they are located have arisen due to the long hours they follow and the crowding of riders and delivery vehicles at their locations. doors. The new text defines dark stores as establishments where remote purchase orders are prepared and from which they are distributed to the final recipient. In addition, it establishes that the space must be structured in aisles and shelves with products, or similar structures, but without customers being able to access them and without any complementary element for the physical sale of the products.
It also introduces the obligation to have a waiting area for the vehicles that carry out the delivery and also a stay area inside for the delivery people. It will be the town councils that must establish the minimum surface area for both areas. If they do not do so, the text says that when the delivery is carried out by bicycle or other personal mobility vehicles, the surface of both areas must be at least 5 m2 for every 100 m2 of constructed surface of the ghost store. When the delivery is carried out with other types of vehicle, the minimum waiting area must also have an area of ??at least two parking spaces per 100 m2 of constructed area.
It also limits activity hours. Thus, it establishes that dark stores cannot deliver products to the final recipient between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., unless they are food and mass-market products (municipalities may reduce the time slot).
Also in the ecommerce section, the draft will force all establishments that sell online to offer collective collection and return points. On the other hand, the text introduces modifications on sales and promotions and the organization of commercial equipment. The Generalitat also planned to approve this legislature a law to regulate last mile deliveries to mitigate their environmental and traffic impact. Although the text has already been drafted, it is very unlikely that this legislature will give it the green light.
Business hours will not change. Large retailers have been pushing for some time for Catalonia to further liberalize store opening times, following the Madrid model. Small businesses, on the other hand, defend greater limitations.
