Inside Spain: Liquid gold and is this the most expensive return to school ever?

September 7, 2024

Kids cost money, that’s no secret. 

In fact, a couple of years ago we reported that raising a child in Spain costs €300,000 until they become emancipated (which in Spain is rarely once they turn 18). 

And perhaps the time that parents are reminded the most of how much their offspring cost is when they’re about to go back to school after the summer break.

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According to a study by Statista, this year it will cost on average €490 to prepare a child for the new school year, €43 more than a year ago, making it the most expensive vuelta al cole (back to school) yet. 

And that’s just for textbooks, uniforms and other school materials, not tuition fees and extracurricular activities.

Parents in Granada told local daily Granada Digital that “it’s pitiful that colourings books for three and four year olds cost €300”, which illustrates how the excessively high price of ‘official’ textbooks is a particular grievance for parents. 

READ MORE: Why are books so expensive in Spain?

Logically, parents’ Whatsapp groups have been awash with cost-cutting solutions and mentions of government subsidies in recent weeks.

READ MORE: How to cut costs on school textbooks in Spain

It makes perfect sense, especially as even more costs have to be added to the budget: enrolment fee (matrícula), school fees, school lunches, sports clothes and so on – it just keeps adding up.

According to Spanish consumer group OCU, the more ‘prestigious’ the school is, the higher the bill by the end of the year: for public schools it’s €1,200, for state-subsidised schools (concertados) it’s €3,396 and for private schools it’s €7,961.

The cost of having a child may not be the only reason why many Spaniards are choosing not to become parents, but it certainly plays an important and dissuasive role in a country where wages remain low on average, and living costs keep inching up.

READ ALSO: The real reasons why Spaniards don’t want to have children

In other news shaping wallets in Spain, there’s olive oil, the staple of Spanish cuisine.

There’s aceite vírgen, aceite vírgen extra or just aceite de oliva, all of varying quality and price tags.

Until recently, regardless of people’s income, every household in Spain would have one of the above in their kitchen. 

But as a sign of changing times, aceite de girasol (sunflower oil) has recent surpassed olive oil in terms of sales for the first time in Spanish history. In the first quarter of 2024, 107 million litres of olive oil were sold, compared to 179 million litres of sunflower oil.

Through a combination of reduced production and rocketing sale costs, Spaniards are being forced to turn to the more unhealthy but cheaper sunflower oil. Inflation has also hit their diets in other ways: they’re eating less fresh produce, fish and meat.

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READ ALSO: Why is olive oil cheaper overseas when Spain is the world’s top producer?

The Spanish government has tried cutting VAT on olive oil but this hasn’t had enough of an impact on the price, with a litre of virgen extra costing around €10 on average last August, while aceite de girasol can easily cost under €2.

Now more than ever, olive oil is truly the liquid gold of Spain. Bottles stacked up on supermarket shelves have security alarms, criminals try to pass off low-quality aceite as the ‘good stuff’, and Spanish newspapers are full of stories forecasting possible drops in prices. 

If there  is a silver lining, it’s that economists do predict that the good harvest that’s expected this autumn in Spain will bring considerable price drops for the masses.

The Local Barcelona News

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