Geraldine Caillaud, member of the bicycle delivery company Les Mercedes, rides through the gothic area at Barcelona's city centre, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Spain, Dec 17, 2020. BARCELONA: When the coronavirus slammed Spain in March, Ariadna Serra realised that 2020 and beyond looked dreadful for the cycling tours for foreign students company she co-founded ten years ago.
"It's not only a delivery company. We want to go a bit further," said Serra at the company's headquarters in Barcelona's old town. Above all, it intends to be an"alternative model" to delivery giants, such as Amazon and Glovo, she said. Both have lost rulings in recent months in Spain over labour conditions and the rights of so-called gig economy workers.Amazon's impact on local shops is at the forefront of a political debate in Barcelona and the municipality is mulling a tax on big online shopping platforms.
Les Mercedes has around 50 core customers, mainly groceries, wine and flower shops as well as neighbourhood shopping associations which have launched their own online marketplaces.