Euro blamed for driving up cost of living in Spain
December 28th, 2011 - 11:57 am ICT by IANSMadrid, Dec 28 (IANS/EFE) Housing costs in Spain have risen 66 percent since the adoption of the euro in 2001, while food prices are up 48 percent, a consumers’ organisation said Tuesday.
Median annual pay, however, has climbed less than 14 percent, from 19,802 euros ($25,743) in 2002 to 22,511 euros ($29,264) in 2009, the latest year for which data are available.
The Organization of Consumers and Users report points out that the price of bread in Spain rose 24 percent within four months of the introduction of the euro in September 2001.
Potato prices have soared 116 percent since the Spanish peseta disappeared in favour of the common currency, followed by eggs, up 114 percent; milk, 48 percent; rice, 45 percent; olive oil, 33 percent; beef, 36; and pork, which is 26 percent more expensive.
In December 2000, the median cost of housing in Spain was 1,453 euros per sq. meter, compared with 2,419 euros per sq. meter in June of this year, an increase of 66 percent.
Residents of the country’s two largest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, face housing costs that are 78 percent and 70 percent higher, respectively, than before the advent of the euro.
–IANS/EFE
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