The PCP warns of a worsening economic situation, exacerbated by recent international events, which have been used as an excuse to raise prices of essential goods.
In a press release, the PCP notes that “as in previous incidents, there is a logic of exploitation by large distribution companies, who use the international context to maximise profits at the expense of the populations.”
In this sense, PCP rejects that it is, once again, “the workers and the people who bear the costs of wars and crises, while the large economic groups and multinationals maintain or increase their profits.”
The party considers public intervention in the large distribution sector indispensable, including regulating the prices of essential food items.
“Recent experience shows that measures such as the so-called Zero VAT were insufficient, not preventing the degradation of purchasing power or the generalised rise in prices, having served, in many cases, to preserve the profit margins of large corporations,” state the PCP.
“Essential food products cannot be dependent on profit-maximising strategies. “The data confirm this reality: in the first nine months of 2025, SONAE MC increased its profits by 38%, reaching around 200 million euros, while JerĂłnimo Martins recorded a growth of 10%, with profits of 484 million euros. These results are based on the increase in prices and the maintenance of low wages, highlighting the need for public intervention to defend the collective interest. The most recent data from DECO PROTESTE also indicate that, in the first week of March 2026, the essential food basket reached 251.76 euros, representing a significant increase compared to the beginning of the year.”
Faced with this reality, the PCP defends the “creation of a price control regime, with the setting of maximum prices for essential food items.”
They argue that this regime should “establish reference prices based on the real costs of production and distribution, ensuring fair and non-speculative margins, prohibiting sales above these values without justification.
The PCP has already presented in the Assembly of the Republic a Bill that enshrines this Price Control Regime on the Products of the Essential Food Basket.
Situation in Madeira
In the particular case of Madeira, the PCP maintains that the cost of living is higher and inflation has a greater impact, and in this sense, it becomes even more urgent to adopt measures to protect consumers.
The PCP denounces that the Regional Government and the parties with seats in the Regional Legislative Assembly – PSD, JPP, PS, Chega, CDS, and Liberal Initiative – “have not used their autonomic powers to face price speculation and defend the interests of Madeirans and Porto Santons.”
Furthermore, they defend that a price control regime on essential food items should be implemented in the Region, as a way to combat speculation and curb the increase in the cost of living.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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