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Revealed: the cost of expat food in Spain

The Local Spain
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Revealed: the cost of expat food in Spain
Shopping photo: Shutterstock"

It's the question on everyone's lips: is Spain good value for money for nostalgic expats craving comfort food and drink from home? The Local hit the streets to find out.

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As you'd expect from a country that is home to tapas, Spain's regions offer an amazing assortment of food, and much of it is amazing good value as well.

But even the most culinarily demanding expat sometimes just wants to munch on some comfort food from home.  

That's why The Local recently hit the streets of Vienna, Madrid, Paris, Stockholm, Berlin, Rome, Lausanne and Oslo and fill a basket with 14 items that fill the hearts and clog the arteries of Anglophone foreigners everywhere.

THE SHOPPING LIST IN PICTURES:

14 Shades of Brown: Food and booze expats miss

Photo: Mikey Jones

What then will it cost to get hold of these delicacies in cities across Europe? Scroll over the heat map below to count the cost of foodie homesickness.

How we tracked down the goodies

Most of the items in The Local's expat shopping basket in Spain were relatively easy to track down in Madrid, with shops like the department store El Corte Inglés and the food chain Taste of America selling many of the items we were looking for.

It could take some time, however, to actually traipse around and pick up all of the items.

When it comes to doing the sums, prices in Spain were very much a mixed bag. 

While Heinz Baked Beans are available at the Mercadona chain of supermarkets for a very cheap €1, Skippy peanut butter came in at a painful €6.99 at one expat food store.

Robertson's marmalade is also very cheap at €2.60 but Marmite will set you back €7.50 in Madrid   

Spain was also the most expensive place to buy PG Tips. The price for 40 bags is a steep €5: the highest prices among all The Local countries.

But on balance, prices in Spain remain average for expat goods on The Local list, meaning you can satisfy those cravings when you need to.   

Use the scroll bar on the chart below to see all the prices. 

Incidentally, we're aware that we've navel-gazed somewhat and overlooked a lot of nationalities. Please let us know what you miss from your country in the comments or on social media. Can you give us the ingredients we need for another article?

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