Panic as prices of food and drinks soar by 50% at popular Spain destination
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Over the past five years, food prices on the Balearic Islands have skyrocketed in tandem with the surge in tourist numbers. Essential items such as oil and bottled water have seen a price hike of over 50%.
While local protests have primarily centred around the archipelago's strained housing market, believed to be due to an increase in short-term rentals and second-home ownership, a burgeoning cost-of-living crisis is also being experienced in this popular holiday destination.
According to a survey by the Balearic Institute of Social Studies, concerns about affording everyday food items surpassed overtourism and the housing market as the most urgent worry among residents, with 84% of respondents classifying it as a serious problem, reports the Express.
Alfonso Rodriguez, president of the Consubal consumers association, reported that the price of oil has shot up by 67% since 2020, with sugar, lamb, bottled water and juice all also increasing by approximately 50%, as per the Majorca Daily Bulletin. Alongside growing discontent and a new wave of planned demonstrations, these escalating costs could deter international tourists from choosing Majorca and Ibiza for their summer holidays - research indicates a decline in both domestic and foreign expenditure.
Restauración CAEB, a restaurant association, published data showing a revenue decrease in Majorca's hospitality sector of up to 20% during the first quarter of 2025, with both Spanish visitors and those from overseas seeming to spend less than the previous year. The association's president Juan Miguel Ferrer has issued a stark warning about the local economy, stating: "If spending in our sector decreases, it will inevitably affect the entire local economy."
Soaring food prices might not only dent tourist wallets but could also stem from the surge of affluent expats, who now constitute nearly half of the archipelago's population. The Balearic Islands' dependency on imports, along with escalating inflation and raw material costs, leaves it exposed to steep food prices.
Consequently, business owners may have no option but to transfer these costs to consumers – a move that wealthy expats and tourists might absorb, but one that could exacerbate the financial strain for locals already battling with rent payments.
"Majorca has become uber-expensive for the average consumer, and is perhaps in danger of outpricing itself in favour of caressing the plump wallets of the super-rich," journalist Peter Clover wrote in the Majorca Daily Bulletin last summer.
"I'm almost certain that somewhere along the line, some retail entrepreneurs are taking the proverbial and raking in the profits, while happily shafting the customer," and concluded, "But that still means that as an island, we take a harder hit than most!"
The social studies institute has found that housing access is firing up as the second hottest topic for Balearic residents, with a striking 72% branding it as a "great concern". Meanwhile, a hefty two-thirds of the 1,300 individuals polled expressed deep worry over the lasting impacts of overtourism on their sunny isles.
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