“All the bread has fallen, but a penny or two is not noticeable,” says the clerk of a bakery in Barcelona. For basic foods such as bread, bread flour, milk, cheese, eggs, fruits, vegetables, pulses. , potatoes, cereals, VAT increases from 4% to 0%. For a one-euro loaf of bread, the savings are 4 cents. For oils and pasta, the tax drops from 10% to 5%. “People generally complain about how expensive everything is, but so far no one has commented on it being cheaper,” adds this baker.
Generally, it is assumed that price adjustment will take place in the next few days. But supermarket chains have lowered the prices of the affected foods on their shelves. Inside mercadona, for example, a package of thick noodles went from 0.8 cents to 0.76 cents. And a package of Gouda cheese from 2.45 to 2.36 euros. There are also six bricks of whole milk packs from 5.7 to 5.48 euros, as well as potato fillets (4.4 to 4.23 euros), onions (from 2.49 to 2.39), apples (2. ,39) have a discount. to 2,·) or tangerines (3.58 to 3.16 euros).
in the chain bonpreu, refined sunflower oil rose from 2.4 euros on Friday to 2.29 euros this Monday; and olives, from 5 to 4.79 euros. Eggs sold for 2.1 euros on Friday are sold for 2 euros this Monday.
A worker from another chain says the discounts are just a few cents. “Not more than 5, 10, 30 cents,” he explains. For him, the problem today was people’s confusion. “Milk has gone down but no dairy products like soy milk, people see it’s the same price and complain about it,” he says.
of a greengrocer Ninot market did the whole price update work on Sunday 1st January? His job was to charge 4% VAT on all his product; it’s a discount that turns into cents that people don’t perceive. “A purchase of 25 euros now costs you 24 euros”, he says. He also felt that people were already very unbelieving. “They tell us, if it falls from one side, they will definitely load it from the other side.” According to him, the biggest difference will be a 10% reduction in VAT on meat and fish, which are also basic necessities. “I think there will be higher what the Government will stop collecting and then it won’t matter anymore.”