Mercat de l'Olivar in Palma, Mallorca

Mercat de l'Olivar in Palma. | Pilar Pellicer

Andrew EdePalma28/04/2023 18:28
TW2

Bartolomé Servera, the president of the distributors association in the Balearics, says that while it had seemed as if food prices were stabilising, they are rising again because of "the drought that is ravaging the mainland". "No one should expect a fall in prices," he warns, with the drought now starting to impact prices which have risen, for example, by up as much as 27% over the past year in the case of vegetables and legumes.

In the Balearics, Servera notes, it has rained more than in mainland areas, "but production here is insignificant" in terms of meeting demand. He adds that there could be a shortage of some vegetables because of the lack of rain. "In many cases, farmers aren't even planting."

The farming industry in the Balearics has said that the situation on the islands isn't anything like as bad as it is in parts of mainland Spain. But the manager of the Asaja agricultural businesses association, Joan Simonet, is clear that if the dry weather continues, the consequences will be drastic. "Whatever happens, the cereal harvest is already going to be bad. But if it doesn't rain, it will be even worse."

He points out that there are already some problems with getting animal feed from the mainland, believing that "in the best of scenarios we will pay very expensive prices". "At worst, we will not be able to buy products because there won't be any."