Croatia is moving to ban shopping on all but 16 Sundays of a year, giving retailers the right to decide when they would use the exemption. The rationale is that Sundays will become more of a family day.

Shops in countries like France, Germany and Spain are routinely closed on Sundays.

“We want to make it possible for retail employees to spend Sundays with their families,” the government said on Twitter on Thursday.

Most retailers are expected to use the exception during summer at the height of the tourist season.

Retail stores that are part of airports, bus and train stations, ferries, hotels, gas stations or museums would be completely exempted from the new law.