The Balearic Consumers and Users Association (Consubal) has criticised the fact that shopping has become 34.7 percent more expensive in the Islands so far this year and added to the price of electricity and fuel “makes it extremely difficult for families to make ends meet”.
The association said today that the products which have risen the most in price are sunflower oil (75.17%), eggs (31%) and milk (24%), as well as pasta and rice, with an increase of 14 and 23%, respectively.
Consubal has warned that will back-to-school expenses looming, autumn and winter will be very “complicated times, because apart from the increase in the prices of basic goods and services, the rises in interest rates on mortgages, rents and electricity” also have to be taken in account.
What is more, rising prices has meant that the cost of a menu del dia in the Balearics has also risen sharply. According to the latest report by the Hospitality Association of Spain, a menu del dia now costs an average of 12.8 euros, one euro more than in 2016.
The secretary general of the association, Emilio Gallego, has highlighted that, despite a 9 % increase in the price of the menu of the day, there has been no “impact on demand and consumption.”
This is a “very Spanish product that has been working for decades in a very important way in terms of value for money” and, for this reason, they hope that the level of consumption will remain the same despite the “adjustment” in the price.
The report shows that, in the ten main Spanish cities, the average price of a set menu of the day was 13 euros; Barcelona (14) and Madrid (13.9) stand out, followed by smaller capitals such as Palma (13.6), Bilbao (13.5) and Zaragoza (12.8).
Between November 2021 to April 2022, 37% of the restaurants surveyed raised the price of the set menu by 5%, 30% raised it by 10% and 7% by 15%.