Tourism is proving to be the best antidote to the economic crisis in the province in terms of wealth and job creation, but there is also a B side and the fact is that the massive influx of visitors this summer has contributed to tourism. to raise the Consumer Price Index (CPI) above the state average for issues such as transportation or food and beverage costs. As a result, the annual rate of change in inflation in the Alicante region stood at 11.2%, four-tenths higher than registered in Spain as a whole, and the highest since 1984.
The state, like the rest of the country, is suffering from a hopeless rise in inflation, which is the main cause of energy costs. However, there are a number of features that support uneven growth in each region, and in the case of Alicante, this is tourism. This is by Paloma Taltavull, professor of Applied Economic Analysis at the University of Alicante (UA), “This is a phenomenon we have always had in this field, what happens is this: we have gained momentum in the current context“.
This is illustrated by the latest data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) corresponding to July. an annual change of 11.2% compared to the state average of 10.8%, after a seven-point increase from the previous month. The main increase was 22.8% in the residential section, which includes concepts such as electricity, gas and other fuels. Transportation also increased by 18.2% due to fuel prices, while food and beverage increased by 14.6%. The restaurant and bars segment grew by 7.3%.
As Taltavull emphasized, when demand increases, all prices increase and we see that our city has had a very good summer in terms of tourism. With an enormous volume of arrivals and increased consumption at all levelsThis is reflected in the already rapidly rising costs of transport, which has a greater impact on the state due to the enormous level of mobility available, as well as in the food and other goods tourists buy.
UA professor, increase in inflation will tend to slow down when summer is overcoincides with lower activity in the tourism sector. “After all – he underlines – the main cause of inflation is energy prices. Right now we’ve noticed this more because of the high number of visitors, but when winter comes it’s because the heating is connected. It’s all related” .
Furniture and household goods also grew 7.5% year-on-year, while clothing and footwear grew 6.8%, entertainment and culture 2.5%, education 2.4% and health 1%. The only thing that experienced a decrease was the portion that was related to communication at a rate of 2.2%.
Inflation is growing four times faster than wages
The unstoppable rise of inflation has left the biggest pay gap ever recorded in relation to the rise in the cost of living. In the province of Alicante, the annual rate of change in the CPI was 11.2%, while salaries increased by over 2.5% but four times less. Considering that Alicante ranks twelfth among the provinces with the lowest average salary, according to the latest data from the Tax Office, the situation is even more dire.
This harsh reality prompts unions to demand wage increases that, at the very least, serve to reduce the loss of purchasing power suffered by workers. This is expressed by Yaissel Sánchez, the general secretary of the UGT at l’AlacantÃ-Les Marines, that “workers have already made a great effort in previous crises and the weight of the current crisis cannot fall on them again. In addition, we have the disadvantage that we have a precarious labor market in the state with many rotations, which has been fixed by labor reform thanks to uncertain contracts, but something we need to keep moving forward ».
Similarly, CC OO’s Communications Secretary, Pepo Ruiz, on the same border, states that “our recommendation is a 3.5% increase this year, to follow the next two on the growth path. It’s about finding a balance between what companies and employees earn.
Source: Informacion
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