Inditex, which owns Zara, has started the rollout of its plan to close up to 1,200 stores across the world, despite an agreement with Spanish unions to protect jobs.

According to a report by Reuters, closures in Spain are the first of up to 700 expected in Europe, with a further 100 planned closures in the Americas, and 400 elsewhere in the world.

It said that the company is closing smaller shops, while expanding flagship stores.

An agreement made in December with two Spanish unions, which has been seen by the news agency, said that Inditex plans to ensure that all staff impacted by the closures have new vacancies matching their old contracts within 25km of where they used to work.

But according to the unions, this agreement is not going to plan.

An internal report, also seen by Reuters, found that 40 per cent of new positions offered by Inditex were outside of the region where the employee had worked.

Retail Systems has reached out to Inditex for comment.

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