The authorities' message at Friday's press conference was clear: There must be no mid-day sale and definitely no congestion in the Christmas shopping.

But the issue can become more complicated is expected - and there are loopholes.

Swedish Trade: "Need to sell"

On the trade association's Svensk Handels website, there is no advice on stopping the mid-day sale - even if the stores are urged to take measures to reduce congestion.

"There is no risk of sanctions for companies that have mid-day sales," the organization writes.

Svensk Handels' business policy manager Mats Hedenström believes that there are other ways to reduce the spread of infection.

- Our members need to be allowed to sell during this period.

The focus should be on stopping congestion, he says.

No general prohibition on sale

SVT Nyheter has spoken with property owners for seven shopping centers in Stockholm and Gothenburg.

None of them had introduced a general maximum ceiling for their stores on Saturday.

There are also no general bans on sales.

One reason is that the shopping centers do not have a legal right to introduce rules that apply to all stores.

- It is up to the stores themselves to decide on the sale.

We have passed on the government's new restrictions, but we can not decide how the stores will act, says Ulrika Carlsson, CEO of the Nordstan shopping center.

More guards

According to her, however, more guards have been appointed to limit the spread of infection.

- We encourage customers to use different entrances and we constantly inform about the importance of not creating congestion.

Mall of Scandinavia in Solna is the country's largest shopping center.

A maximum ceiling is to be introduced, but how high it will be is not clear.

The same applies to AMF Fastigheter, which owns several shopping centers in Stockholm's inner city.

Gekås: The rules are strange

The mega-department store Gekås in Ullared reduced its maximum ceiling from 8,000 to 2,000 visitors during the spring.

No update of the maximum ceiling is relevant, according to CEO Boris Lennerhov.

- We have previously minimized congestion and made sure that we keep our distances and that is the main point.

He thinks the new restrictions are "strange".

- These are the most obscure instructions I have seen.

They did not say how or what we should do, he says.