Like in other countries, the pandemic has accelerated a reduction in the number of sporting goods stores in Spain, adding to factors such as the growing weight of e-commerce, the more selective distribution policies of the major sports brands and the general modernization of the trade. Some 372 sporting goods stores closed in Spain over the course of 2020, an increase of 84 percent from the 202 that closed in 2019, according to a report in CMDsport citing figures from the 2021 edition of the Sports Statistics Yearbook. The surviving stores at the end of 2020 amounted to 5,416, down by 6.43 percent from 2019. Hardest hit among Spain’s autonomous communities was Andalucía, which lost 93 stores. Catalonia remains in the lead with 943 sports retail operations, followed by Andalucía (843) and Madrid (647). Much of the recent damage is due to pandemic-inspired lockdowns, but that is not the whole story. As CMDsport shows, there has been a steady loss for more than a decade. The store total in 2008 was 7,753, so there has been a loss of 2,337 over a 12-year period.

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