Closed on Sundays

We rarely comment on political news here in Hungary, but Sunday was the first day a new law went into effect.  All stores except the smallest, family owned and run stores, are now closed on Sundays.  The stated reason for passing the law was to allow families time to be together at least one day a week.  The law was passed in December and there was much opposition to it.  The international chain stores objected strongly, saying that their biggest shopping days are on Sundays and that they would have to lay off staff and close stores.  About two-thirds of the adult population objects to stores being closed on Sundays, many saying that Sunday is the only day they have time to shop.  But, having retail stores closed on Sundays allows for more people to be able to be in church. 

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.