Local shops resign themselves to Black Friday: 'You either join in or you're out' 

While many chain retailers have had Black Friday discounts running for days, some smaller local businesses in Catalonia say they have no choice but to cut prices to match the big-name brands. 

"If you don't join in and take part, perhaps on those days when everyone does a lot of Christmas shopping, you'll be affected, and people won't come into your store," Raquel Pizarro, president of the Via-T retailers association in Tarragona, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN). 

According to Pizarro, more establishments are taking part in Black Friday this year with various discounts on their stock. 

Other traders, such as Jordi Gombau, see the situation from a totally opposite perspective. In his case, he works in a 95-year-old leather goods store and is adamantly opposed to joining the Black Friday campaign, which he believes does not help local commerce. 

"We are totally wrong, the image we traders have to give is an image of seriousness and of respecting prices," he said. 

Half of shoppers take part 

Meanwhile, almost 50% of shoppers say they will do some early Christmas shopping to take advantage of Black Friday deals and save money. 

That's according to a study on Christmas spending by the Association of Manufacturers and Distributors and the AECOC Shopperview platform. 

The report found that 21.6% of shoppers plan to spend more this year than last Christmas, and 43.7% estimate they will spend roughly the same. 

Therefore, despite the increase in prices, 6 out of 10, expect to spend the same or more than last year. 

Overall, 55% say they will be on the lookout for cheaper food products and 46% will include more white-label products in their shopping cart.