Toilet paper is no longer the problem. Spanish supermarket shelves are stocked. Instead, Spaniards are panic-buying beer and wine, olives, potato chips, and chocolate.
Or at least they are consuming more than usual of these key staples amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown in place since March 15, according to market data.
Spaniards bought 80 percent more beer and 60 percent more wine last week than in the previous seven days, the trade publication Inforetail reports.
Olives were apparently even more popular, with sales up by 94 percent. Potato chips, chocolate, ice cream, and anchovies are also booming, all-seeing increases of between 76 and 87 percent.
Spaniards, who normally socialize in public populating cafes, bars, and outdoor spaces, have now “built their own bar at home,” the Spanish daily newspaper El Pais commented.
Psychologist Olga Castanyer traces her countrymen’s’ changed buying behavior to the anxiety caused by the virus and the strict curfew. “You don’t eat steaks when you have a lot of stress. In such a situation, the body craves sugar and fat,” Castanyer told El Pais.
“I am going to meet my friends on Skype now to have a few beers,” she conceded. (NAN)
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