A study by the OCU Organisation of Consumers and Users has found that Palma is one of the four most expensive cities in Spain when it comes to the regular supermarket shop. Palma ranks alongside Madrid, Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) and Getxo in the Basque Country. By region, the Balearics and the Canaries are the most expensive.
The study points to a nationwide 14.1% increase in the price of the "shopping basket", with an average annual spend of 6,019 euros. However, it is possible to save an average of up to 1,050 euros per year, depending on the choice of supermarket even in the same city.
This 14.1% average increase is down on the 15.4% that the OCU highlighted in its 2022 survey. For its the annual study, it visited 1,108 establishments in 65 cities as well as online supermarkets. The organisation collated 155,489 prices for a shopping basket comprising 236 products in 16 different categories.
Product inflation was found to have affected 90% of the 236 products. The largest increase was 65.7% for sugar. Among products for which there has been a price decrease, sunflower oil topped the list with -39.8%. For supermarkets in general, the highest price increases were for E. Leclerc (16.8%), Supeco (15.8%), Carrefour Express (15.3%) and BM Urban (15.1%). The lowest were for Eroski City (8.8%), Eroski (8.1%) and the Masymas chain (8%).
None of the individual most expensive or least expensive supermarkets were in the Balearics.
OCU spokesperson Enrique García says that there has been "uniformity" in the increase of supermarket prices. This is due to the "very significant increase in production costs", an increase which is "especially harmful" for families with fewer resources. Many households, he adds, are tending to buy more processed products and fewer fresh products. The nutritional quality of the diet has therefore been reduced.