Dani leads Spain’s cheapest supermarkets again. Families could save €1,310 a year by choosing carefully, while Madrid has the widest gap between stores.
The OCU checked more than 100,000 prices in 690 shops across 38 cities and more than a hundred other localities. Its 2026 comparison puts Dani at the top of Spain’s supermarket ranking.
The Andalusian chain beats larger national rivals despite its smaller footprint. A household could save an average of €1,310 a year by changing where it shops. In Madrid capital, the gap between the cheapest and most expensive options reaches €4,381.
That is a large gap.
Sánchez Romero remains Spain’s most expensive supermarket chain, followed by El Corte Inglés and Supercor, according to independent reports on the OCU ranking.
The ranking is more than a national table. It shows how much an ordinary household budget can change with the choice of store, especially in cities where prices differ sharply.
Family Cash takes second place. Tifer ranks third, followed by Alcampo in fourth. Alcampo is the cheapest chain with nationwide coverage.
The cheapest individual shop in the study is again an Alcampo store at the Bonaire shopping centre in Aldaia, Valencia.
Among chains with nationwide coverage, Alcampo ranks ahead of Supeco, Lidl and Mercadona in the price comparison. This means the cheapest individual chain and the cheapest national network are not the same thing: Dani leads overall, while Alcampo leads among the large nationwide operators.
Researchers recorded prices between April and May. The basket contained 244 products from food, drinks, household cleaning, detergents and personal hygiene.
It was built to represent routine household spending. The OCU did not base the comparison on a narrow set of promotional items.
Fresh produce and branded goods were assessed separately. Dani leads the full basket and the fresh-food basket. Súper Carmela is cheapest for manufacturer brands.
Alcampo takes the top position for the economy basket, which contains 90 basic products. The earlier price breakdown also showed Lidl’s stronger position across Spain.
Prices continue to rise, but the yearly increase has slowed. The complete basket costs 1.8% more than a year earlier. In 2025, the increase was 2.5%.
Fresh food puts more pressure on household budgets. Prices in that category rose 4.7%, while fish increased by 8.6%. Tomatoes, lemons and some fish recorded some of the steepest rises. Paper napkins, Canary Island bananas and artichokes became cheaper.
The result differs across the major retailers. Eight of the 28 large chains in the study cut the price of their general basket. Carrefour Market recorded the biggest fall, followed by Lidl, Mercadona and Aldi. BM Urban and Ahorramás had some of the strongest increases.
Lidl’s local results changed sharply. The chain was the cheapest option in 60 surveyed localities, compared with 18 in the previous exercise.
Mercadona and Supeco also improved their positions. Local prices can tell a different story from the national ranking.
That matters to shoppers.
Sánchez Romero is again the most expensive supermarket. Supercor, Hipercor and El Corte Inglés are also near the top of the price table. They cost close to 30% more than Dani.
The cheapest locations include Torrent, Villarreal and Santa Pola. Getxo, Pozuelo de Alarcón and Majadahonda are among the most expensive.
The practical difference can reach thousands of euros in the right city. Across Spain, the average possible saving is more than €1,000 a year.
Dani leads the national comparison. Alcampo delivers the strongest result among nationwide chains and wins the economy basket.
Fresh food is rising faster than the full basket. Households that compare stores instead of relying on habit have the clearest chance to cut costs. The OCU’s findings were also reported by RTVE, Expansión and ABC, which highlighted the estimated €1,310 annual saving from changing where a household shops.
