Torrevieja town hall sent the Local Police into an outlet store selling for a national chain this week, closing them down for safety and licencing reasons.
The officers entered the El Corte Inglés Outlet” store on Calle Apolo on Tuesday, asking shoppers to vacate the premises and issuing the closure notice.
The planning department sent the police into the 1,700 square metre store which apparently did not possess a licence for the purpose it was operating and lacked a number of fire safety requirements such as hydrants.
The store management argued that the premises was fitted with a sprinkler system, but this was not enough to satisfy the minimum safety requirements.
The store opened in 2008 and had been operating as a retail space, changing in 2012 to its current form as an outlet store. It would appear that this is the first time safety concerns have been raised in the 8 years of operation, although the closure is expected to be temporary, once the premises has been made safe and legal.