It is Tuesday morning at the Mercat Nou de Vila. Families, couples and elderly people, tourists and residents, stroll among the different fish, meat, fruit and vegetable stalls in search of fresh local produce from the island. Many carry a list in their hands to adjust their shopping basket to their needs and not to overload their carts in view of the generalized increase in prices.
At the Casa Rata fish market, Joana Castro attends to Julián, one of her regular customers. “Everything has gone up twice as much”, comments Julián resignedly. “I sell a lot of fish from here on the island and a few farmed fish,” Castro explains. “Her products are great,” assures the customer.
As for sales, the fishmonger says that “there is a lack of people coming to the market to buy”. “There is nothing that has not gone up, in some things it is more noticeable, but, at least, for what you pay, you eat guaranteed same day, fresh products“, emphasizes Julián.
Lourdes Campanario, of the Su&Lu Fish Market. Toni Escobar
Changes in the shopping basket
Paqui Villarroya and Israel Varela are a couple who go around the market looking for the best offers. “Before I never looked at the prices but now I do”, says Villarroya. This customer, a resident of Valencia, explains how her day-to-day shopping basket has changed and how she has changed her recipes with the increase in the price of products: “Before I used to buy a lot of lamb and now I don’t buy a tray of this meat for 13 euros because in one meal it’s all gone. So, I take chicken and bake it in the oven”, she says.
In addition, she adds that instead of buying beef three times a week, she buys only one every seven days: “I like steak and it’s not that I can’t afford it, but I have many more expenses and I choose another type of meat that is cheaper”.
Blanca and Andrés, residents of the island, are regulars at the market. Toni Escobar
“Now we eat off-season produce”, says her partner, Israel, a native of Ibiza who does not hide his “desire to have a good steak”, he says with a laugh. As for fish, Paqui stresses that she still buys the same, which is “very little”, but she has changed her fruit buying habits: “I still buy it, but I always go for the cheapest one, even if I feel like another one. Until the price goes down, I don’t buy it” and she explains scandalized that cherries “are at seven euros”.
In this sense, Joan Torres, from Frutas Catalina, indicates that the price of melon has gone up two euros and watermelon 1.60 euros. “Prices are more expensive this year. Everything has gone up too much”, he exclaims. According to Torres, “what people buy the most is the typical Ibizan product, such as melon or watermelon, and what they buy the least are expensive fruits such as mango or papaya”.
Carmen Pérez, from the butcher’s shop Hermanos Pérez. Toni Escobar
Torres assures that the arrival of tourists helps the merchants of the Mercat Nou: “There are many people, that is what saves us here on the island”. His partner, Héctor Alzati, agrees that they are “very happy and content” and is confident that business will be at full capacity this summer. On the other hand, Lourdes Campanario of the Su&Lu fishmonger’s, looks around her and says: “Look at the market”, in reference to the fact that there are not a large number of buyers. “People are not coming, the truth is that this year is very strange”, she asserts. The reason for the low influx, is clear: “People can not enter Vila, it’s a nightmare to find parking in the center”, referring to the inconvenience of municipal works in the middle of summer.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.