Not fine at all PRICE HIKE

HOUSING prices in the Balearic Islands have increased by 5.9% in just one year, according to new figures.

National Institute of Statistics data from the fourth quarter of 2022 showed that despite a 1.1% drop from the previous quarter, the region remained the most expensive to buy in Spain.

The data showed previously occupied housing in the Balearic Islands is also more expensive than new housing in most autonomous communities.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the price in the Balearic Islands is 12.2% higher than in the same period of 2007 and 71.3% higher than the minimum reached at the start of 2013.

Behind the Balearics, the next place with the highest housing prices is Madrid, followed by Catalunya, while the cheapest are Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla Leon.

while in Germany there are 3,677 cases and in Holland 3,712.

The news comes as 721 sex offenders have had their sentences reduced due to a controversial new law introduced last year. The Only Yes Means Yes abuse law has also seen 74 offenders freed from prison early, it has emerged.

It came due to an unforeseen loophole, which redefined each offence and changed their minimum sentences, with most lowered in the absence of aggravating circumstances.

While prime minister Pedro Sanchez is currently in the process of repealing the law, his Equality Minister Irene Montero blamed ‘sexist’ judges for wrongly applying it.

A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge expatriate community in Spain with an estimated readership, including the websites, of more than two million people a month.

Voted top expat paper in Spain OPINION

Crypto scam

THE famous adage suggested northern Europeans too often ‘left their brains at the airport’ before being turned over by the numerous timeshare scams in Spain. And just as we spent over a decade warning readers to watch out for the timeshare crooks, we are once again telling them not to be taken in by the latest round of ‘big return’ investments.

The Globix cryptocurrency platform was sadly one of many suspect schemes that promised the earth, but in the end could not deliver.

Many of the victims of Globix we spoke to were lured in by seemingly easy money and an endless stream of winning trades.

But, like all investments, speak to experts, research the background of the organisers and do your due diligence. Remember: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

Splashing the cash

HOW can you tell when an election is coming in Spain?

Simple - the roads get repaired, museums are launched and rubbish gets cleaned up.

Politicians up for re-election have long saved their cash up over the four-year cycle to splash it out now in exchange for votes in the May 28 local and regional elections.

In its broadest interpretation, this could be viewed as a form of corruption, perhaps unfairly so.

But two stories in today’s paper show that corruption remains at the very heart of much of Spanish political life. It might seem shocking that former minister Jorge Fernandez faces 15 years in prison for spying on a colleague, while Juan Fuentes, a member of Congress, is being investigated for demanding kick-backs.

But actually, after probing crime and corruption for 17 years, we find it no surprise at all.

For the Olive Press team (and long-time residents of Spain) it’s just a case of ‘same old, same old’. It is time for voters to remember to punish the crooks at the polls. Not be so easily schmoozed by a new series of white lines or a shiny new community centre.

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FIRST the good news: In Spain, at least, we can still find the food we want to buy. Over in the UK, a shortage of both home-grown and imported fruit and vegetables has led to supermarket rationing, in some places. This has been accompanied by a slew of news stories with the UK government claiming it’s the ‘bad weather in Spain’ – much to the amusement of the media here.

As a spokesman for FEPEX, the Spanish federation of exporters, clarified: ‘There are no problems exporting to any countries in the EU’. Quite simply, higher production costs, the UK’s own farming policies and, particularly, Brexit, have caused the problem. And those higher production costs are also affecting us in Spain. So, while food items are not being rationed here, they are increasingly unaffordable to many people.

To help struggling consumers, Spain’s Unidas Podemos party recently proposed a discount of 14.4% on a set of 20 basic food items. This is similar, in principle, to the 20 centimos per litre discount that applied at petrol stations between April and December. And now, hot off the press, Spain’s Minister for Agriculture, Luis Planas, assures us that Spain has “the capacity” to introduce measures such as those being implemented in France, where a 2e price cap is being put on basic products.

The Carrefour supermarket chain will offer shoppers in its 5,945 French stores a basket of 200 basic products for under 2e, from March 15 to June 15.

A constant crisis

Planas previously wasn’t so keen on the subsidy idea, saying that inflation has now finally ‘reached a ceiling’ – despite the prices remaining as high as ever.

He pointed out that the government has already introduced VAT (IVA) reductions on certain foods. On January 1, VAT was cut from 4% to 0% on basic items, including bread, milk, eggs, cheese, fruit, vegetables, and cereals. Tax on oil and pasta also fell from 10% to 5%.

However, these foods remain expensive throughout the nation.

According to a recent study by web portal, Trading Economics, Spain’s food cost 15.5% more in January than January 2022 (the rise is even higher in the UK at 17.1%) A weekly food shop that cost €200 a year ago in Spain now costs €231.

What exactly has risen?

Data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) confirms that the price of staple foods has reached historic highs.

Around 30 different foods are 10% more expensive than a year ago, including dairy products, such as cheese (22.1%), yoghurt (25.1%), and milk (37.5%).

And it’s really bad news if you like a fry-up: olive oil has risen by 35.2% and eggs by 29.8%.

Meanwhile, rice has increased 21.7%, pasta 19%, bread 15.4%, and breakfast cereals by 11.4%. Vegetables are up by more than 10%.

Maybe it really is time to turn vegetarian: chicken and turkey are up by 15.1%, pork by 13.8% and beef, 13.2%. Frozen fish has increased 13.2% and shellfish, 13.4%.

Why is this so bad?

People with lower incomes, and already stretched families, are disproportionately affected by food price inflation.