Iberian ham, suckling lamb, pineapple, beef round, turkey, pomegranate and oysters reach record prices on the eve of Christmas

Homes have ahead the most expensive Christmas in history. You will notice it when you go to prepare the table where you sit with your family or friends. Seven of the foods that are most in demand at this time have reached record prices just before the holidays: Iberian ham (67.52 euros per kilo), oysters (30.84 euros/kg), suckling lamb (23.18 euros/kg), veal round (20.22), turkey (6.65), pomegranate (3.18) and pineapple (2.19 euros).

The Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) has activated this Thursday its Christmas price observatory to follow the evolution of the most typical foods of these dates. The first of the three planned controls confirms a new increase in prices that averages 5.1% compared to a year ago. The increase is similar to the 5.2% increase that was recorded in 2024 and implies that the Christmas basket has already accumulated an increase of 57% in the last decade.

“We are not surprised seeing the behavior that foods have been registering in recent months,” he assures Economic Information Enrique García, spokesperson for the OCU. The organization is concerned about how the increase in prices of fresh products affects the quality of the dietwhich “has gone down,” he adds, which is why they insist on demanding the Government reduce the VAT on basic and healthy products, including meat and fish.

The study takes as reference sixteen products in high demand at Christmas in municipal markets, supermarkets and hypermarkets of Albacete, Bilbao, Madrid, Malaga, Seville and Valencia. These include meats such as suckling lamb, veal round, pularda and turkey; fish such as sea bream, sea bass, hake and elvers; shellfish such as prawns, barnacles, clams and oysters; in addition to fruits and vegetables such as red cabbage, pineapple and pomegranate, and Iberian bait-cut ham.

This first control is carried out a month before Christmas, but OCU will carry out two additional monitoring: after the Constitution Bridge and in the days before Christmas Eve. “We are facing the most expensive Christmas in history,” says García according to the data they already have.

Ten foods are rising strongly

The report reveals that ten of the 16 products analyzed increase in price. The beef round and oysters stand out, with an increase of 19%, followed by sea bass and Iberian ham (10%), suckling lamb (8%), pomegranate (9%), pineapple (8%), turkey (7%), hake (6%) and clams (6%).

On the contrary, prawns, eels and barnacles maintain their prices compared to a year ago, while the Lombard (-1%)he sea ​​bream (-3%) and, above all, the pularda (-16%) record declines.

With these prices, from the organization they recommend plan purchases in advancetake advantage of offers and take into account more affordable alternativeslike poultry. They also advise buy fresh seafood to freezeanticipating possible increases that may occur in the coming days.

Furthermore, the organization insists that the Government must adopt measures to alleviate the excess cost of food, starting with temporarily reduce VAT from 4% to 0% on basic foods (fruits, vegetables, fresh legumes, milk, eggs, olive oil) and reduce it from 10% to 4% in meat and fishas has been claimed in recent months.