Mallorca food prices: families can't afford fruit and veg

Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands: food prices leave many families unable to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, opposition MP Marta Carrió says. On Tuesday, 10 November, she challenges regional economy minister Antoni Costa in the Balearic Parliament in Palma over the cost of basic food. Costa accepts that economic growth is not making islanders better off, but defends the government's approach.

Costa says change will take years

For three years, Costa says, the government has focused on innovation, technology and industry to make the economy less reliant on its existing strengths. That shift will not happen in a few years or within one parliamentary term, he argues.

He also points to 300 million euros the regional government has mobilised to help economic sectors deal with the effects of the war in the Middle East. He does not present it as a measure to cut food bills.

Carrió presses for help with food bills

Carrió says workers are struggling to buy basics such as fruit and vegetables, and that the government's tax cuts do little for most people. She puts the benefit for ordinary people at less than one euro a day.

She argues that life on the islands costs more and will remain expensive even after the war. Her party wants a cut in value added tax, or VAT. Costa counters that, if basic food prices concern MÉS per Mallorca, it should have called for VAT on those foods to be removed altogether.

Topics: Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com