A supermarket choice in Las Palmas can change a household's annual bill by up to €2,167. OCU ranks Carrefour as the cheapest option in several Canary Islands cities, while grocery prices remain far above their level five years ago.
OCU compared 101,520 prices in 690 stores across 189 Spanish cities. In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the gap between the cheapest and most expensive supermarkets reaches €2,167 a year for one household.
That gap matters.
Carrefour has the lowest price index in the city at 114. Mercadona follows at 115 and Hiperdino at 121. SuperDino reaches 126. Supermercado El Corte Inglés and Hipercor both stand at 144, while Supercor ranks highest at 151.
OCU’s comparison covered 101,520 prices collected in 690 stores across 189 Spanish cities, making the result broader than a simple comparison of a few local supermarkets.
The cheapest chain changes across the islands.
Carrefour also leads in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where it records an index of 113. Lidl and Mercadona share 114. Hiperdino stands at 118, followed by SuperDino at 122. HiperTrébol reaches 126. Supermercado El Corte Inglés is the most expensive store in the comparison at 144.
San Cristóbal de La Laguna has a different result. Aldi is cheapest at 112, ahead of Alcampo at 115 and Hiperdino at 118. In Telde, Alcampo leads at 114. Hiperdino records 121.
The national gap is even wider in some locations: according to OCU, choosing the cheapest establishment can produce annual savings of more than €4,200 in certain Spanish cities. By autonomous community, EFE reports that Comunidad Valenciana and Murcia are among the least expensive on average, while several northern and central regions rank among the most expensive.
OCU sets the cheapest store at a price index of 100. Every other store is measured against that figure. A lower index means a cheaper overall basket.
The basket covers 244 products in 80 categories. It includes fresh food, packaged goods, personal hygiene items and household cleaning products. Both leading brands and store brands are part of the comparison.
Prices vary by city.
Across Spain, choosing the cheapest store instead of the most expensive one saves an average of €1,310 a year. An earlier comparison found the same pattern outside the islands. In some cities, OCU puts the possible saving above €4,200.
The basket is still much more expensive than it was five years ago. OCU says prices rose by an average of 1.8% over the past year. That was the smallest annual increase in five years. Over the full five-year period, the rise reached 39.5%.
Fresh products rose by 4.7% in the latest year. Fish recorded an increase of 8.6%. Meat rose by 3.7%, while fruit and vegetables increased by 3.5%.
Some products rose far more. The cheapest ground coffee blend became 142% more expensive over five years. M eggs rose by 135%.
During the latest period, 61.8% of the products in the basket increased in price. The remaining 38.2% fell. Canary bananas were among the products with the sharpest declines, dropping by 22.6%.
OCU's national ranking puts Supermercados Dani at the bottom of the price index, with a score of 100. Family Cash and Tifer follow. Alcampo and Supeco come next, while Lidl, Mercadona and Aldi also rank among the cheaper chains.
Hipercor, El Corte Inglés, Supercor and Sánchez Romero are among the most expensive. The ranking also changes by product type. Mercadona has lower prices for economical products. Aldi performs well for fresh goods. Lidl is more even across categories.
The result is simple. No single chain is cheapest in every Canary Islands city. Carrefour leads in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Aldi leads in La Laguna, while Alcampo is cheapest in Telde.
In Las Palmas, the choice can change a household's annual bill by €2,167. Food prices remain 39.5% above their level five years ago. Checking the local ranking can make a real difference.
