Food aid has become the only way to survive the skyrocketing inflation that has hit Spain, leaving food prices reaching an all-time high and incomes down to an extreme low.

The National Statistics Institute, an independent administrative autonomous institution, recorded a 15.4% increase in food prices in October - the biggest in nearly 30 years - as farmers struggle with energy prices jumping 77% due to the energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.

Despite the fact that Spain possesses six liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities for refining gas that arrives by sea from the Iberian peninsula, which would facilitate the EU to boost its imports, it has only two low-capacity pipelines reaching France's gas hub, which connect to the rest of the continent. 

Over 13 million residents in Spain are on the verge of living below the poverty line according to the independent charitable organization Oxfam, as the poorest households are most vulnerable to the impact of inflation.

In a study conducted this year by the University of Barcelona, one in seven households have insufficient access to food as a result of low income, leaving single mothers, families with children, and the elderly relying on state aid having to resort to food banks and eventually skipping meals to survive.

Although food banks in Spain are meant to cover over 1.35 million people, they continue to struggle to supply them as global food and fuel costs keep going upwards.

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Spain increases subsidies

In light of the crisis, the Spanish government has attempted to relieve people of the conditions by investing billions of Euros in extra welfare, backed by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's introduction of an additional €3 billion ($2.9 billion) in government aid to ease energy bills.

Subsidies for transport and a 15% increase in pensions for those affected the most have also been implemented, but according to charities, these amounts are inadequate - "hunger queues" continue to build up outside food banks. 

In September, thousands of demonstrators marched across Spain to protest the increasing cost of living, namely food and fuel, which has worsened after the draconian West-led sanctions on Russia following the beginning of the war in Ukraine.