youd be better going to mercadonna, its a large supermarket the spanish use. you could get a taxi or just walk coz where you describe you are staying its pretty close. they also deliver to your apartment so you could get your shop for your full holiday....including booze.

Hi,
we just returned from a week in Benidorm yesterday. We normally eat out but decided that we'd do proper self catering this time as we feared eating out would break the budget. However, We found eating out relatively cheap and ended up eating all our snacks and meals out apart from the last day when we purchased some items for lunch from the supermarket. TBH, it wasn't any more expensive to eat out than to buy from the supermarket. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

For your info - Our lunch from the supermarket consisted of pack of ham, pack of cheese, sml pckt crackers, french stick, large bag crisps, bottle wine =just over 10 euros. The wine was cheap. Sorry I can't recommend a supermarket as we stayed at the other end of the Levante area.

I agree with Shirley h. Unless you are a large family, then eating out is relatively cheap. We found the prices of food in the supermarkets and general market to be expensive.

Prices are very high in all the supermarkets particularly the small corner shop ones, Like Pot noodle 2 euro, Bread 1.7 euro, 2 liter coke 1.6 euro, All pre packed ham is expensive also, Buy ham etc from the deli counter which is much much cheaper.

All supermarkets? Even Mercadona?

You've been paying well over the odds. I've just been to Mercadona and here are prices for some basics:

Loaf of sliced bread - 0.60
Barra (French stick) - 0.50
8 slices of prepacked ham - 1.49
8 slices of cheese - 1.75
6 eggs - 0.88
1 litre semi skimmed milk - 0.59
1 litre orange juice - 0.56
2 litres Coca Cola - 1.36
2 litres of still water - 0.26
1 litre of bottled lager - 1.18
Bottle of wine (red or white) - 0.95
1 litre 'brick' of wine - 0.55
Orange marmelade - 0.65
500g cornflakes - 1.10

Keep clear of the 'Brit' supermarkets where you pay far too much. Go to Mercadona, Dia, Consum, Supervalu or Dicost and buy supermarket own brands. If you buy Brit brands you will pay double what you do in the UK.

I always shop at Consum (just because it happens to be close to were we usually stay) and I'd say it is far cheaper than in the UK. That is of course if you buy the stuff the Spanish would be buying themselves. I think it is a bit much to expect to buy British brand named goods cheaply. So forget cereals for breakfast and buy a few french sticks, local cheese, tomatoes etc. I don't think the Spanish would touch what we call ham or bacon with a barge pole, so don't be surprised if they are quite dear! Mind you, what they do call ham is REALLY dear (but worth it!)
I've never bothered driving out to the big supermarket, I understand it is more like one of our big Asda stores, Consum is more like a big Co-op.

Like Pot noodle 2 euro

Do people actually come to Spain, or anywhere else, and buy (and even eat!) Pot Noodle?

Why?????

Are there not enough Chinese restaurants in Spain that can offer a menu del dia for under 4 Euro?, .........................................and you will get the luxury of a plate, knife and fork and perhaps a napkin on the table.

I wondered that too.

Staying in the part of Benidorm where we were, a knife & fork were a luxury. Before we left home we were looking forward to tapas .We honestly didn't see any

For the benefit of dgr, could we try and stay on topic please:

We will be staying in Benidorm in July for 10 Days self catering. As the pound is poor against the euro we will certainly be watching the pennies. Can anyone help me, we are staying on the levante side but right next to the old town.

1. Cheap supermarkets close by
2. General Prices on Bread, Meat, Milk, Beer etc, etc

Feedback would be appreciated

Many thanks
David

We had some friends come over from the UK with their small sons. They thought it would be a good idea to bring some food over as the kids would probably only eat the English stuff that they were used to for breakfast. They had tins of baked beans, a few packets of bacon and sausages, and of course, tomato ketchup. These items, as has already been mentioned, are available but more expensive here in Spain.

After their food was finished the kids had no choice but to try our alternatives.

Our Spanish brand baked beans met with initial disapproval. When you open the can there is no sauce. That is easily sorted by adding a little water when cooking, and once cooked they were as good as ‘the real thing'. (Here, we object to paying for water in food. If we buy a can of beans we want BEANS!) If you visit any butcher or delicatessens, you can ask him to thickly slice up some moderately priced jamón for frying. This tastes MUCH better than any water injected bacon you can buy in the UK, and you will not get a pan full of froth when cooking it. As far as sausage is concerned, you can buy a half metre length of chorizo, as thick as your arm, almost anywhere for a few Euro. Slice it up and microwave for a few seconds. Whatever is left over will do for sandwiches for the next fortnight.

Cooking and eating the local way not only has the advantage of being a lot cheaper, but you will also find that you will not have to smother everything with tomato sauce to make it taste better. But if you really can't do without it, you can easily make a huge jar of tomato relish for next to nothing.

Our friends took more food home than they arrived with!

Thanks AHV, those prices look to be pretty much the same as what we were paying last year so are still excellent value for money, glad to see the bottle of wine is the same price

To the OP as others have said English brands are expensive so if you need a certain brand of something try to take it with you other than that you can get everything you need for a reasonable price at many of the Spanish supermarkets.

I go self catering and stock up at the Mercadona for sandwich/snack stuff and drinks and we eat out every night. It is very cheap to eat out but with having the self catering facilities during the day we usually just fancy a sandwich/toastie anyway.

Found a bottle of red last night for 0.79 in Mercadona. Drinkable and with practise I will get used to it

If you've got a hire car - or want to get a taxi then Carrefour is only a couple of miles away. Huge place, great fish counter, great quality and very reasonable.

All the Carrefours have a good selection of fish and cakes, but as far as prices are concerned, unless they are having a special promotion on something, they are one of the most expensive supermarket groups in Spain.

Perhaps that is something to do with their French ownership?

All imported goods in Spain are very expensive, and all foreign owned Companies are expensive too.
Best to stick with the Valencia based Mercadona.

you know better than I, but I found them very reasonable indeed - more choice, more fresh produce - certainly much cheaper than back home for sure.

Mercadona in the old town was a right old bunfight!!

We use the Mercadona in the new bus station building because it the closest to our apartment. (or the Eroski on Alfonso Puchades) Whenever I want a big shop, we always go to the Marina shopping centre. It has Aldi, Lidl and Carrefour all in fairly close proximity. No12 bus there, taxi back with the goods.

can someone let me know where Mercadona is located, I'm staying at El Trebol Appts next month?