Will this Irishman’s pension keep up with prices in Spain?

Colm Rush, who is originally from Dublin, has taught English in Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Tunisia, as well as in Ireland and England. He now lives in L’Ametlla de Mar in Catalunya

When the topic of rising prices came up the first thing that sprang to my mind was restaurants. With Covid restrictions relaxing, eating out is on the cards again, but I soon noticed that the price of that great Spanish institution, the “menu del dia” had risen in my local restaurants from €13 to €15 and from €14 to €17.

Not only that, but the choice within the menu had lessened in some cases and become more standardised. In some districts in big cities, where tourists do not abound, you may still be lucky enough to come across a menu for under €10, but this is rare.

I should mention here that I live in a small but important fishing port in Tarragona province that doubles as a tourist resort in summer, mainly for people from Barcelona and the French, who discovered it years ago. In fact, most of the apartments in the block I live in are summer residences and empty in the winter. So most of the sea-front restaurants cater for the tourist trade and only open on weekends in the winter.

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An exception is Restaurant Maura, just above the town beach, which I dropped into on my way for my daily, midday swim. Eloy, the owner, his son and his mother were busy wiping down the tables on the covered-in terrace. When I broached the subject he said yes, his costs had gone up considerably recently. The worst was electricity, up by about 30 per cent and rising, which didn’t surprise me at all as it has been the subject of much comment all winter. The price per kilowatt per hour is constantly flashed up at the bottom of the screen during the TV news here, along with the up to-to-date Covid statistics.

Other increases, like that of olive oil, were more understandable; insufficient rainfall leads to smaller harvests, which generally means higher prices. This problem is going to get worse, it seems, as rainfall in the Mediterranean region is forecast to fall by up to 20 per cent over the next decade or two. But why sunflower oil, which restaurants use more, for frying, should rise in price puzzled him. As did paper: toilet paper, kitchen towels, serviettes, table coverings - all of them up by about 20 per cent. “It’s the petroleum,” Eloy said, “when that goes up, everything goes up!”

I then inquired in the shop of the local agricultural co-op, where my olives are pressed. This is an interesting place selling mainly wine and olive oil at very competitive prices. Their mark-up must be minimal as they charge less for the red wine I buy there for daily use - a crianza at around €3.50 a bottle - than the co-op in the Terres Altes that produces it!

“Yes, prices have increased over the past year - up 20 per cent. We don’t really understand why though. The wine producers blame it on more expensive bottles and packaging. We haven’t increased the price of our own olive oil (€25 for a 5 litre carafe) as we’re a small producer,” he told me.

I use the petrol station in the small industrial estate nearby as it is a local enterprise and much cheaper - besides which they also give a small discount. Most of their customers are long-distance lorry drivers, so only one of the four pumps has a car-size nozzle. I filled up with diesel there, prior to a recent trip and 33 litres cost me €44 before the discount, so €1.348 per litre. (On my subsequent journey, I noticed that the price at most petrol stations was a standard €1.515 per litre.)

Besides the clear rise in transport costs, prices in general are rising. Think of the poor trucker still paying off his truck and trying to feed his family. He has no comeback

When I asked the attendant about prices, he immediately replied that a year ago diesel was only about €0.95 a litre, so that’s an increase of over 35 per cent. “This is really hard on the lorry drivers, especially those who own their own trucks. In effect, it means a rise in costs/drop in earnings of between two to three thousand euros a month,” he said.

Besides the clear rise in transport costs, prices in general are rising. Think of the poor trucker still paying off his truck and trying to feed his family. He has no comeback.

My final visit that day was to a stationer’s shop in the city. The refill for my Cross ballpoint pen was over €8; it had been just under €6 before. When I muttered something about rising prices, the retort was sharp and heated. “Don’t talk to me,” he said. “It’s madness, there is no accounting for it. Prices usually go up a little at the start of the year, but they’ve gone up twice since Christmas. Everything’s gone up by about 20 per cent. A packet of 500 sheets of paper that a short while ago cost €5 now costs €6.20!” There seems to be a pattern in this, the stationer corroborating the restaurateur and the vintners in their mention of 20 per cent rises.

While on the subject, a friend remarked: “Of course, you have to take into account the rise in salaries and in the minimum wage.”

There was indeed a significant rise in the minimum wage in Spain during 2018 and 2019. It was long overdue and much needed, increasing from €736 a month to more than €900 a month. However, the most recent increase, in 2022, was only €35. While bringing the minimum wage up to the magic €1,000 a month mark, it cannot be held to account for the price increases I have mentioned.

I recently received a letter from Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations informing me of legislation that has just come into effect ensuring that pensions will maintain their purchasing power. Accordingly, my pension for 2022 has increased by 2.5 per cent, which is the average price increase in 2021.

What was that saying Mark Twain attributed to the British statesman Disraeli? Ah yes, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics."

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