Spain’s importer syndrome
Despite being the global leader in olive oil production, soaring prices have turned a fundamental ingredient of the Mediterranean diet into a luxury out of reach for many Spaniards.
Nobody in my family gets the joke.
By now, any relative preparing to visit Galicia knows to save space in their Samsonite for an industrial-sized box of Barry’s teabags and a few slabs of dairy milk chocolate.
The gag waits in cold storage, ready for when the inevitable message arrives:
- Need anything else brought over?
- Olive oil please.
Tough crowd. But unsurprising. In Ireland, olive oil is just olive oil — a luxury ingredient used so sparingly that any sort of price spike goes unnoticed.
In Spain, however, the ferocious and unrelenting price increases that kicked off during Covid-19 have been in the headlines ever since. El País reported that, between January 2021 and December 2023, the price of olive oil in Spain increased by 165.5%. With Spaniards consuming 30 times the global average per year (12 kilos v 0.4 kilos), it’s a big deal.
Furthermore, at present, many European countries continue to enjoy below-current market-priced golden-green goodness, and Spaniards are pissed off.
The importer syndrome
The reaction to the viral video showing a litre of extra virgin (the really good stuff) olive oil retailing in Dublin for €4.70/litre compared to €8.50/litre in Huelva was as expected.
“Being the main producer of olive oil isn’t doing Spain much use for controlling the prices of such a basic element of the Mediterranean diet,” wrote La Voz de Galicia. “Images of bottles costing four or five euros per litre in Ireland and other European neighbours have irritated Spaniards, who are wondering how it’s possible to have arrived at such a situation.”
Due to relatively low consumption in Ireland — bottles of aceite de oliva often sit unopened, gathering dust in cupboards for most parts of the year — stocks (purchased well in advance at lower prices) have lasted much longer. This explains why, despite being the global leader in olive oil production, Spaniards are being forced to pay high for their own supply.
The exporter now feels like the importer.
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Hasta pronto,
Brendan
