Light and restoration drive up the cost of living
In February, the CPI in Catalonia grew by 3.1% compared to a year earlier.
BarcelonaRising electricity, food and leisure prices pushed up the cost of living in Catalonia again in February, according to data from the Consumer Price Index (CPI, the indicator that measures price trends) published Friday by the National Statistics Institute.
Specifically, in Catalonia, prices for consumer goods and services for families rose by 3.1% compared to February 2024 – one-tenth more than the annual rate for January– and 0.5% compared to the previous month.
In the whole State, the INE has confirmed the growth of the CPI of 3% annually, had already advanced on February 27Compared to January, the cost of living in Spain increased by 0.4%. As for core inflation (which does not include volatile items such as energy and fresh food), it stood at 2.2% year-on-year last month in Spain, the "lowest figure" in the last three years, according to the Spanish government's Ministry of Economy.
The rise in inflation is due to two factors. First, the increase in electricity prices compared to February of last year: the cost of electricity in Catalonia rose by 19% year-on-year, although in the last month the growth had been more moderate, at 0.8%. In addition, there was an increase in restaurant, leisure, and tourism prices in February, following the usual price decrease that occurs in January due to the end of the Christmas season.
In terms of food, beef and lamb have maintained their the pace of strong increases for monthsFor example, in Catalonia, beef was 9.5% more expensive in February than a year earlier, and lamb 14.9%. At the other extreme, olive oil continues to fall in price after the sharp increases in 2023 and is already 20% below the price at the beginning of 2024.
Unions demand wage increases
For its part, the Comisiones Obreras union points out that the CPI data does not include the full rise in the cost of living, since it does not take into account the price of housing, which "is exceeding households' ability to pay," according to Mari Cruz Vicente, secretary of union action and employment. Both the CCOO and the other major union, the UGT, have demanded wage increases in the face of inflation remaining above the 2% target set by central banks and the increase in profits of large companies this past year. "Wages must be raised in line with business profits," said Patricia Ruiz, secretary of occupational health and safety for the UGT.