British tourist travels to Tenerife and is amazed by supermarket prices

It is well known that many Brits choose the Canary Islands for their holidays. Sun, beach, and cuisine draw visitors, but there is another factor that is highly valued by those coming from the United Kingdom - the prices. When comparing the prices of many products and services in the Canary Islands with those in the UK, the difference is quite remarkable.

This became clear for one British tourist known online as 'deebolar', who is spending a few summer days in Tenerife. He took to his TikTok account to express his enthusiastic surprise at finding prices in Spain that seem so low to him.

"The UK is no longer making sense to me after I've seen these Tenerife prices," he told his viewers after seeing the price of products in supermarkets, citing examples like 2-litre bottles of soft drinks for around 80 cents or 8-litre jugs of water for 1.50 euros.

"The UK's not seeing me again," he claimed.

He went on to share what he'd gotten from his recent shopping spree, as well as what he'd paid for everything.

"For context, one euro is 85 pence. You're seeing one euro here for like 2+ litres of Fanta, Coke, or 7Up. I mean, it's off-brand, but who gives a toss, innit? It's like 70-80p," he said.

He continued: "8 litres of water, 2 litres of Fanta for the mixer. Look at the price: two euros thirty-nine cents. Everything on this table is pretty much £5-£6 at most."

"I'm telling you, it's nuts," he said in astonishment.

Although many of the prices seen in the Canary Islands and other parts of Spain may surprise visitors, several Spanish users took to the comment section of the video to explain the reason for this.

"Try living on their wages and it's a cost of living crisis though.. If you can pattern a UK salary while living abroad, that's the way," one viewer said, while a second viewer added: "Cheap for you.. Unfortunately Spanish salaries are every day lower because we pay more taxes and prices are increasing..."

A third person said: "Come over and work, pay rent, electricity, food, taxes."

Other viewers also pointed out the rising cost of housing, exacerbated by tourism, and that life in the Canary Islands isn't so affordable when earning a reduced salary with much of it going towards rent or mortgage.

The average salary in the UK is £41,000 annually (about €47,500 at current exchange rates). In Spain, although it has grown over recent years, it still stands at €28,049.94 annually according to the latest INE data (2023), and the Canary Islands is the second autonomous community in Spain with the lowest average salary (€24,033 annually), only above Extremadura.