Eyewear in Spain

COVID-19 impact on eyewear

The effect of COVID-19 has severely compounded the struggling Spanish economy in 2020, with job losses rife and inbound tourism in jeopardy. The responding steep drop in disposable incomes and financial uncertainty among households have even overridden the previously essential status of eyewear products in the country, as many Spaniards have postponed their eyesight tests and purchasing of new eyewear in order to save money.

COVID-19 country impact

On 16 March, the Spanish government announced the closure of its land borders, allowing only citizens, residents and other people with special circumstances to enter the country. Spain imposed the restrictions on its land borders with France and Portugal after the EU agreed to close the bloc's external borders for 30 days.

Company response

In order to increase sales in 2019, and especially to compete against the growing number of online players in eyewear, players in the market were launching products with the claim of helping to deter the development of eye ailments. This was for example the case for contact lenses and solutions sales leader CooperVision Iberia SL, with its launch of MiSight 1 Day, which targets children.

Retailing shift

In 2020, optical shops have remained open in Spain, thus for players in spectacles and contact lenses and solutions distribution has been largely unaffected by COVID-19 lockdown. In sunglasses, the situation has been somewhat different as players have witnessed key outlets for them close such as beauty specialist retailers and department stores.

What next for eyewear?

In 2021-2022, the impact of COVID-19 still expected to be felt in Spanish eyewear and in the country in general. It is likely that real GDP will not recover from the sharp fall projected for 2020 until 2023, while disposable incomes are not predicted to bounce back to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2022.

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