MADRID: On Madrid's main shopping street, the Gran Via, a toy store that has sold handmade dolls since it opened in 1942 just after Spain's Civil War, is preparing to close after the Christmas rush.
Dolls decked out in classical clothes overflow in the large window of the shop, which is mentioned in several guide books to the city and attracts tourists who snap pictures of the display.
"Thank you for 72 years", reads a sign in the window.
While business has held up during Spain's economic downturn, the shop, owned by the same family since it opened, can't afford a sharp rise in its rent that will come into force when decades of rent controls stop at the end of the year. It will shut its doors in January.
"I grew up here. Emotionally it's very hard," said Susana Ezharriaga, 46, who runs the shop along with her four siblings, as employees unloaded a final shipment of dolls which sell for up to 300 euros ($370) each from boxes.
They pay a monthly rent of around 10,000 euros but the shop owners are asking for 35,000 euros once the rent control ends at the end of December -- an amount she said only a big international chain can afford.
The siblings have convinced their landlord to let them stay in the shop until the Feast of Epiphany in January 6, the main yuletide celebration in Spain when gifts are opened, so they can make the most of their biggest sales period of the year.
They will then try to find a less expensive location away from the centre where they can set up a new version of their store, which was founded by their great-grandmother.
The store is not the only independent retailer facing its last Christmas season thanks to the end of rent controls.
Across Spain about 200,000 stores, bars and restaurants are affected and 65,000-70,000 could be forced to close, according to UPTA, the professional and autonomous workers' union that represents independent store owners. Most are family-run businesses.
About 200,000 jobs will be lost as each store employs around three people, it adds.
"The city will completely change, we will lose the history of neighbourhoods, of the city," said UPTA secretary Cesar Garcia.
"Spain's high streets, its main streets, will all be the same with big chains like Zara, McDonalds, Burger King. There will be nothing that makes them different. It is bad for tourism."
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