Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio reiterated on Monday that his government wants to limit trading on Sundays, while stressing this will not mean consumers won't be able to shop at all on the traditional day of rest. "There will always be somewhere to do the shopping," 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Di Maio told La7 television.
"There will be a mechanism of turns by which 25% of shops will remain open and all the others will be closed".
He said that city mayors and shop keepers will decide which shops are open on which days. Mayor retailers have said closing most shops on Sundays could lead to tens of thousands of job losses.
Ex-premier Matteo Renzi of the opposition centre-left Democratic Party (PD) said the proposal was absurd and Di Maio must be living on Mars.
But many small retailers and religious groups back the idea.
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