How Expensive Has Mallorca's Weekly Grocery Shopping Become?

Coffee, bananas, and lemons are squeezing budgets: Many households on Mallorca feel the bill at the supermarket checkout — especially families on tight budgets.

The checkout hurts: Prices continue to climb

Last week at the market stall in Santa Catalina: an elderly woman counted the fruit crate twice before she put the lemons in the bag. The image stuck with me. The daily life of many Mallorcans now looks exactly like that — calculating more precisely, less leeway.

What is weighing most on things right now

Price increases are not limited to luxury items. Coffee has risen noticeably, bananas and lemons are significantly more expensive than a year ago. Eggs and chocolate have also become more expensive for many households. I asked yesterday at 9:30 a.m. at a supermarket on Passeig Mallorca: the cashiers exchanged resigned looks, a young mother told me she now buys more often no-name products.

A consumer organization recently released a study confirming the average trend: on average, cart prices rose moderately, but individual basic foods reached record highs. This hits households with tight budgets especially hard.

A few products are cheaper – that is only partially comforting

There are exceptions: olive oil, sugar, and some beverages have fallen in price. Still, it seems like a drop in the ocean because fruit, vegetables, meat, and fresh products are generally more expensive overall.

What that means: Those who normally shop twice a week now consider going three times to see if an extra item can be added to the shopping list. For many families, the trip to the supermarket becomes a small mental arithmetic test.

How do people cope?

In front of the small shop on the Plaza, neighbors meet, swap tips: specials, discount campaigns, weekly markets. Some already share shopping lists or buy larger packs to save per unit. Others give up items like chocolate or certain cheese – small adjustments that add up.

Policy makers and consumer organizations warn that low-income people especially need support. But how quickly and how targeted that happens remains uncertain.

What I think in the end

Prices are no longer an abstract topic; they are the sum of small decisions at the kitchen table: less coffee before night shift, less juice at breakfast, more planning. And you can feel it in every street from Palma to Pollensa.

If you want to save: look at weekly market times (often cheaper from 8 a.m.), compare store brands, and watch for volume discounts – tedious but effective.