The OCU (Spanish Consumers’ Organisation) says that the average supermarket basket jumped by 10% in just a few weeks during one of the most costly Christmas seasons ever. Now it’s time to think about how to deal with the financial hardship after the holidays. The Bank of Spain says that private spending will drive GDP growth of 2.2% in 2026. Inflation is anticipated to drop from 2.7% in 2025 to 2.1% in 2026. However, since the COVID-19 epidemic began, food costs have gone up by more than 30%.
Some people are noticing a difference between the overall positive outlook for the economy and the fact that salaries and buying power are not expanding as quickly. In this situation, the beginning of a new year once again brings price and tax hikes in many areas. Below, we look at how households will spend their money in 2026.
Food
In 2026, it will cost even more to fill your shopping basket. In November 2025, the food CPI went up by 0.5%, bringing the year-on-year increase to 2.5%. Some prices that have gone up a lot are eggs (+30.2%), beef (+18%), coffee (+17.3%), and fresh and chilled fruit (+9.1%). Avian flu, swine fever, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) are some of the things that are causing these increases. They are predicted to be constant for at least the short term.
Gas and electricity
Starting on January 1st, there will be changes to electricity bills. This week, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) gave the go-ahead for a 0.5% rise in network access fees. At the same time, the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has suggested raising the fixed costs for renewable energy subsidies and the social electricity price by 10.5%.
But the drop in wholesale electricity prices would help lessen the rise in electricity bills. The government thinks the final cost will go down by 4.7%, and consultants think the average price will be between €50 and €60 per megawatt-hour by 2026. The wholesale price of power is about €80/MWh as we get closer to the end of 2025.
The Last Resort Tariff (TUR) for gas will go down by 8.7% starting on January 1st. This is because the price of Brent crude and natural gas has gone down.
Fuels
The Spanish government is working on a tax change that will get rid of diesel subsidies, making the price of diesel the same as the price of petrol. El Economista says that Brussels has compelled the administration to agree to this step in exchange for more money from the Next Generation EU programme. The OCU (Spanish Consumers’ Organisation) says that the so-called “diesel tax” would raise the price per litre by 7 to 11 cents, or 25%.
Diesel and petrol prices are getting closer to each other, even though filling up is cheaper now than it would be in early 2025. With an average yearly usage of 15,000 kilometres, this new tax would imply paying €5.67 more every fill-up and up to €102.03 more for diesel vehicles.
The new Sustainable Mobility Law 9/2025 also lets the more than 150 municipalities with low-emission zones (LEZs) charge a price for cars that go over the limitations or maximum categories they have set for driving in them. The most affected automobiles would be those that don’t have an environmental sticker from the DGT (Spanish Directorate General of Traffic). This includes petrol vehicles registered before 2000 and diesel vehicles registered before 2006. The sum that the car would have had to pay to park in a public parking lot is the base cost for these new levies.
Donations and taxes
The Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI) will rise in 2026 to 0.9% of the contribution base for all workers who pay into the retirement fund. The company will pay 0.75% of this amount, and the employee will pay 0.15%.
Also, for workers with the highest earnings who contribute based on the maximum contribution basis, the solidarity contribution will be between 1.15% and 1.46% of the extra wage.
On the other hand, even though the minimum professional wage (SMI) is expected to go up, everything points to the Treasury keeping the minimum amount of money you need to make to file your IRPF declaration at 15,876 euros per year.
Living
The big real estate websites all agree that rental costs will go up by about 7% in 2026, even if there will be limits in regions where demand is high. In November 2025, the Reference Index for Updating Housing Rental Prices (IRAV) went up to 2.29%. Also, there will be a big assessment of rental contracts signed during the epidemic in 2026. This might cause an average annual increase of €1,952 in Andalusia, according to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
The Bank of Spain says that the average interest rate on mortgages has gone up for two months in a row, and it is now 2.807%.
Other: phone and transportation
Aena has said that starting on March 1st, it will boost its regulated costs by 6.5%. Airlines will now pay €11.03 per passenger instead of the existing €10.35. This will indirectly raise rates for passengers.
Movistar (4%), Vodafone (3.9%), and Orange (3.8%) will all boost their rates starting in January.
Author: Derek Appleton
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