The PP attributes the rise in the CPI to 4.9% in September to the government's fiscal policies and demands a 0% VAT on basic foods and the deflation of income tax. The INE links the increase to the rising cost of fuels and tourist packages.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased its annual rate by six tenths in September, reaching 4.9%, its highest level since February 2023, according to data released this Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The agency attributes this rise to the increase in fuel prices and the evolution of the cost of tourist packages.
The PP has blamed this increase on the "interventionist policies" of the government led by Pedro Sánchez and has emphasized that the CPI figure was already high before the outbreak of the war in Iran, which has caused an increase in energy prices, as reported by Europa Press.
The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has denounced that Spain has been experiencing inflation above the rest of European countries for 16 months. During a meeting with the board of Cecot in Barcelona, he reproached the government for wanting to remedy it with an extension of the aid approved in the summer, which, in his opinion, has not been effective in curbing the rise.
"Between taxes and contributions, people are living worse"
The PP spokesperson in Congress, Ester Muñoz, has rejected the notion that the war in Iran is the cause of inflation in Spain and has attributed the problem to the government's policies. "Inflation was already high before," she said.
Muñoz criticized the measures adopted by the coalition government and pointed out that the "interventionist policies" of the PSOE have made it difficult for people to make ends meet and have resulted in low wages.
"The problem of inflation has nothing to do with the war in Iran; it is related to the interventionist policies of Pedro Sánchez"
The popular leader recalled that the PP has presented "numerous proposals" to combat inflation, including the reduction of VAT on basic products that Feijóo had already suggested.
Meanwhile, the PP's Deputy Secretary for Economy, Alberto Nadal, has accused the government of worsening the economic situation of families by not deflating income tax and not reducing taxes on food and energy. "The government exacerbates the loss of purchasing power of Spaniards through fiscal means," he stated.
Nadal pointed out that from June 2018 to August 2026, food and non-alcoholic beverages have increased by 41%, with particularly severe increases in essential products such as eggs, by 91%; potatoes, by 58%; or whole milk, by 53%.
The economic leader also denounced that the Treasury is "breaking records" by collecting €26.082 billion more in taxes and contributions up to July. "The government collects more and more and continues to offer insufficient relief to those who pay," he emphasized in a post on 'X'.
Among the measures demanded by the PP are setting a 0% VAT on basic foods, including oil, meat, fish, and canned goods; applying a 10% VAT on energy; deflating income tax to resolve the crisis; and doubling the minimums for children in income tax from August to December, including the supplement for children under three years old.
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