The price of food has been inflating month by month. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 16.6% in February compared to the same month last year, a rate higher than the 15.4% in January 2023. We did not have this data so high since 1994.
Anafric, the Spanish meat association, has been claiming since 2022 that the solution to the rise in food prices is the reduction of VAT as long as inflation continues in generalized increases.
“The Government has ignored the repeated requests of the meat sector” and has limited itself to applying from January 1 the elimination of VAT to basic food items, such as eggs, dairy products or fruits. Oils and pasta also experienced a reduction in VAT, from 10% to 5%.
“We agree with this measure, we have been reiterating it whenever we have been asked. But 1kg of pasta does not mean the same in the shopping basket as 1kg of meat,” says José Friguls, president of the association. .
From Anafric, “common sense and responsibility” is demanded of the Government because “the price of food seems to have not reached a ceiling”.
Reduced VAT, a social request
Anafric presented on March 7, within the framework of the Meat Attraction Fair, the first data from a survey in which citizens are asked about the degree of agreement on the VAT reduction. The result is compelling: of the more than 4,000 respondents, 58.6% of the surveyed population agrees to lower VAT to 4%; 40.3% are also in favor of completely eliminating VAT and 1.1% believe that VAT should be left as it is. In other words, 98.9% of the people who responded to the survey are in favor of applying a reduction in VAT on meat products or eliminating it completely.
The results of this survey “prove us right”, they explain from Anafric. “We want to collaborate so that the shopping cart is not a sacrifice for the majority of Spaniards”.
