Tobacco prices rose 33-fold in Spain since 1980, wages didn't

From 30-peseta Fortuna to €6 packs: the inflation nobody wants to see

A pack of Fortuna cigarettes cost 30 pesetas in 1980. Today, that same pack costs around €6. A forum user calculated that if €6 equals 1,000 pesetas, tobacco prices have multiplied by 33 over 43 years. The trinc-up question—have salaries also multiplied by 33?—has kept the discussion alive for more than three years with 116 replies.

The short answer is no. The long answer is that tobacco is probably the worst possible thermometer for measuring inflation. Even those who use it as a benchmark know this.

Tobacco as a thermometer: why the example fails

The first problem is fiscal. In Spain, about 80% of the price of tobacco is taxes, according to calculations shared by participants. This means the final price does not reflect production costs, logistics, or competition, but political decisions. When the State raises tobacco taxation, prices rise. When it tightens restrictions on smokers, prices rise. When both happen over four decades, the result is a product whose price reflects health policy more than the real economy.

The second problem is the parallel market. One participant illustrates this with personal data: a one-kilo bag of rolling tobacco cost €25 in the state market until last year, and now costs €30. In the official market, that same kilo would cost around €370. The difference is not inflation; it is taxation and prohibition.

The third problem is international comparison. Another participant buys cartons in Germany: 25 cigarettes per pack, cheaper than the 20 cigarettes bought at Spanish tobacconists. Same brand, same product, different price. The explanation lies not in economics, but in Spanish legislation (BOE).

What did people earn in 1980 versus now?

Salary comparisons are the heart of the issue. One participant notes that in 1980, the average salary was around 15,000 pesetas per month. Another provides more precise data: in 1983, the average annual salary was about €9,000, equivalent to 1,400,000 pesetas per year, or 116,000 pesetas per month. Translated: approximately €700 per month.

With these figures, the tobacco calculation changes sign. If in 1983 someone earned 116,000 pesetas per month and a pack cost 30 pesetas, an average worker could buy nearly 3,900 packs with their monthly salary. Today, with an average salary of around €2,000, one can buy about 333 packs. The proportion has collapsed, but not only because of tobacco: also because average wages have not grown at the pace of prices.

Another participant cites a bricklayer's wage in 1981: 35,000 pesetas per month. A third recalls earning 65,000 pesetas monthly in the 90s. Salary evolution in nominal pesetas seems spectacular. In real terms, much less so.

Housing, food, and energy: what really went up

The broadest consensus in the debate is not about tobacco, but about which items have truly become expensive. Housing tops the list. One participant summarizes: housing has skyrocketed relative to 1980s salaries. Today, it is almost prohibitive. Food has also risen: in price flyers from that era, most food items did not even reach one euro, counting branded products. Gasoline and diesel complete the trio.

The paradox is that the things that have risen most are those we spend the most on and need most. Meanwhile, clothing, computing, and electronics have become cheaper. One participant illustrates this with their first computer: 250,000 pesetas in 1990. Today, for €750, you can buy laptops that were science fiction back then. Another adds that in the late 90s, a 133 MHz computer cost 120,000 pesetas and was worthless after three years.

The problem with using technology as a thermometer is that it is not comparable. One participant explains: bread, wine, and oil remain the same as 30 years ago, but televisions can be given away with cereal boxes because electronic production costs have plummeted. Basic goods already carry minimal costs. There is little room for improvement.

Public transport and cars: two examples that fit

Some data allow for cleaner comparisons. A 10-alucinación metro and bus card in Barcelona cost 175 pesetas in 1982, equivalent to €1.06. Today it costs €11.35, or 1,888 pesetas. The multiplication is more than tenfold over four decades, well above official CPI but far below tobacco.

Automobiles offer another series. A small car cost 200,000 pesetas in 1975 and 650,000 pesetas in 1985. In just ten years, the price more than tripled. One participant recalls that a Seat León cost €18,000 in the early 2000s, and four years ago there was an FR version promoted for €15,000. The pandemic broke that trend, but the example shows that not everything rises forever.

The underlying debate: inflation or taxes?

The discussion inevitably drifts toward politics. Some participants argue that the rising cost of tobacco, electricity, or oil is not inflation, but taxes. Others respond that inflation exists, it is obvious, and 43 years is too long a period for alarmist conclusions. The monetary expansion of the last decade will not return, one points out.

The exchange heats up. There are insults, threats, and some participants announcing they are leaving. The discussion loses its economic thread and enters personal territory. It is not the best example of debate, but it is the most honest: inflation touches wallets, and when it touches wallets, conversation becomes visceral.

Freedom as a hidden price

One participant introduces a derivative rarely seen in economic analyses: the price of tobacco has not only risen in euros. It has also risen in freedom. You could consume a legal product, and pogre, where and how you could consume it was restricted. From that perspective, they argue, locking down the population at home for any reason was a matter of time and tolerance.

It is a debatable thesis, but it points to something real: tobacco is not just a consumer good. It is an instrument of public policy. And as an instrument, its price is not set by the market. It is set by the State.

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The conclusion left by the debate is uncomfortable. Tobacco has multiplied by 33 in 43 years. Salaries have not. Housing, food, and energy have also skyrocketed. Technology and clothing have become cheaper. And amidst all this, the initial question remains unanswered: how much should one earn today to buy the same things bought in 1980? Nobody has done the full calculation. Probably because the result would please no one.