Europe's shopkeepers on the warpath over lockdowns

Many European shopkeepers reluctantly accepted the need to close during the coronavirus lockdowns in the spring, but the second round of shutdowns in the autumn is proving a more difficult pill to swallow for bookstore owners, florists and hairdressers from Italy to Ireland — and harder for governments to enforce. France’s small traders, backed in some cases by their local mayors, have complained about the injustice of the measures imposed by Emmanuel Macron’s government from last Friday, arguing the restrictions on shops favoured big chain stores and online retailers such as Amazon. They were further enraged by Amazon’s launch of a premature “Black Friday” sale, supposed to be on November 27, which prompted remonstrations from the French finance ministry and a promise from Amazon to stop publicising the presale.