Malaga inflation: Iran war bumps up prices in province to 3.5% in March mainly due due to fuel

As feared, the cost of living has begun to rise tangibly due to the impact of the war in the Middle East.

In March, the rise in Malaga province has been slightly bigger than the average for Spain as a whole. The CPI increased to 3.5% year-on-year in Malaga, compared to 3.4% in Spain and 3.3% in Andalucía.

The data shows an acceleration of inflation compared to February, which saw a rise to 2.6%. It is the largest price increase since October 2025. If the conflict in the Middle East does not reach an agreement, it will only be the beginning of an inflation that experts have been warning about.

It is the rise in fuel prices that is driving the increase in the CPI. The transport sector (which includes petrol and diesel) saw a 5.3% price increase in March in Malaga, the largest increase of all the categories the Ine (national institute of statistics) has analysed, along with alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Restaurants and accommodation services raised their prices by 4.4%. Food prices, meanwhile, experienced a 3.1% rise, moderating the surge that began in February, when they registered a year-on-year increase of 3.9%.

Malaga ranks in the middle among Spain's provinces in terms of the rise in prices: 23 provinces have higher inflation rates, while 28 others have lower rates. Interestingly, the Spanish province with the highest price increase in March was Ourense, at 4.2%, followed by Madrid, at 4.1%. At the other end was Melilla, with a CPI increase of 2.6%. Within Andalucía, Granada, Almeria and Malaga tie for the first place in terms of inflation rates in March.

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