While prices rise across Spain, this bar still charges just €1.50 for a coffee

Everything costs more these days. The supermarket shop is more expensive, filling the car costs more and even the things we buy or use every day are taking a bigger chunk out of our income. For people already trying to make their money cover the basics, those increases leave less and less room for anything else.

 And while steep price rises have become normal across Spain, one small village bar is taking a very different approach, deliberately keeping its prices down to make life a little easier for the people who come through its doors.

Everyday essentials are getting harder to afford

The squeeze is being felt in the places people cannot simply stop spending money. Food has to be bought, cars still need fuel and household bills have to be paid before there is any money left for going out. Spain’s annual inflation rate reached 3.6 per cent in July this year, up from 3.2 per cent in June, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE).

For people whose incomes have not kept pace with the cost of living, those increases can mean having to cut back on things that once seemed relatively inexpensive. A coffee, a beer or an occasional meal out might not be essential, but when the price of necessities keeps rising, these are often among the first expenses to be reconsidered.

The cost of everyday life keeps climbing

The pressure is particularly difficult for people on lower incomes, who have less room to absorb increases in food, fuel, household bills and other regular expenses. INE figures show that workers in accommodation and food services had average annual earnings of €17,653.42 in 2024, the lowest among the main economic activities measured. Unskilled service workers had average annual earnings of €16,062.57.

It means that the same price increase can have very different consequences depending on how much someone earns each month. For a household already using most of its income to cover essentials, there may be little left to absorb another increase at the supermarket, another trip to the petrol station or a higher bill when eating or drinking out. And that is where one small business in Valladolid is trying to do things differently.

A coffee for €1.5

It sounds like something from the past but  Rincón de Rubo is a family-run bar in Villanueva de Duero, where owner Rubén Carpintero Rico has chosen to keep his prices deliberately low, a coffee costs €1.50, while a caña costs €1.60. Rubén, 31, says the prices are kept adjusted so that customers can continue to enjoy the bar without the cost becoming a luxury.

The business opened four years ago and has four employees. It serves coffee and tapas alongside hamburgers, paellas and other food. For a village of around 1,260 people, the bar also provides a local place to meet, eat and have a drink without having to travel elsewhere. The prices stand out at a time when customers across Spain are encountering higher costs in businesses of all kinds.

The bar has rising costs too

Rubén is not operating in a world where everything has stayed the same price. He has worked in hospitality since 2013 and has more than 13 years of experience in the sector. Running the bar means dealing with suppliers, employees, rent, utilities, taxes, accounts and the other costs involved in keeping the business operating.

He says the business can provide a living, but running a bar requires long hours and involvement in practically every part of the operation. That makes keeping prices down a conscious decision. Rather than automatically passing every increase in his own costs on to customers, Rubén is trying to maintain prices that people in the village can manage.

Keeping a simple pleasure affordable

For someone struggling to make their income cover the basics, being able to stop for a coffee without spending several euros can matter. The same applies to meeting friends for a drink. These may not be necessities, but they are part of everyday life and are often among the things people give up when money becomes tight. Rubén’s approach does not change the rising cost of food, fuel or household bills, and it does not remove the financial pressures facing the business itself.

What it does offer is a small pocket of affordability in a market where customers are increasingly being asked to pay more. At El Rincón de Rubo, the price remains €1.50 for a coffee and €1.60 for a caña. For customers already watching what they spend, that means one less everyday expense that has to keep climbing.