Start of summer brings price rises, but Malaga is not the worst affected province in Spain
For several months this year, the Costa del Sol has been the most expensive area in the country to live in, but now three other areas have surpassed it
The start of summer and the holiday season usually comes with price rises. This year, at national level in Spain, inflation stood at 2.3% in June, compared to 2% in May. Meanwhile, in Malaga province, the CPI (general price index, synonymous with inflation) stood at 2.9% last month, compared to 2.7% in May.
In Malaga and along the Costa del Sol, prices have been rising at a faster rate than the Spanish average due to the province's economy expanding rapidly given the tourism high demand. However, surprisingly, data from the INE national institute of statistics shows that Malaga has slowed down the pace - the inflation index grew more gradually than the national average in June.
For many months this year, Malaga has been the province where prices have risen the most in the whole of Spain. Well, at the beginning of this summer, that position is no longer held by the Costa del Sol. In June, Castellón was the province where prices rose the most in Spain (3.2%, compared to 2.8% in May); in second place was Álava (3%, compared to 2.4% in May); along with Salamanca (3%, five tenths more than in May).
Malaga, however, was still the Andalusian province where prices rose the most in June, ahead of Cadiz (2.6%).
Tobacco price rises
Two of the products that have recently experienced the highest increase in prices in Malaga are alcoholic beverages and tobacco, with tobacco having risen 7% in the past year. Meanwhile, healthcare prices are up 3.3% year-on-year, compared with 2.9% in May.
At the same time, groceries rose by 2.1% year-on-year in June, the same as in May, after a sharper rise compared to March and April.
The same happened with restaurants and hotels, where prices in June rose by 4.6%, the same as in May, but less than in April (5.4%). Prices in hotels (7.3%) rose more than restaurants (4.5%).
The costs associated with housing continue to grow by over 8% in the province of Malaga, still affected by the rise in the water bill in the city (13.9%), although electricity, gas and other fuels grew by 8.7%.
