The distributors association in the Balearics maintains that various food, drink and cleaning products from the mainland have risen in price by between 20 and 25% since this time last year. Inflation and energy costs are the reasons, the association's president, Bartomeu Servera, saying that that the price increases have affected certain food products in particular, e.g. dairy.
Servera explains that orders from hotels, restaurants and others are at much the same level as they were in March 2022 prior to the tourism season. However, there is now the "aggravating" factor of increased price that will have a knock-on effect in terms of what customers are charged.
The association describes the situation as "critical", given that there is little indication that price rises will stop. The president of the CAEB Restaurants Association, Alfonso Robledo, suggests that restaurants will have to increase their prices by some eight per cent this season, which will affect both resident and tourist spending power.
He adds that bars and restaurants are going to have to "reinvent themselves" in order to retain customers. They will change menus and look at others ways of preventing a loss of custom. Robledo notes that it is one thing to increase prices in the centre of Palma; it's quite another in other parts of the city and in tourist resorts, where what can be charged is different.