During a campaign event at the Benfica Market, presidential candidate supported by the Left Bloc (BE) highlighted the issue of food costs, emphasizing it as “a problem,” stating that the budget emerging from parliamentary agreements between PSD, CDS/PP, Chega, and PS “makes life more difficult for those living on salaries and pensions.”
“There are agreements in Parliament that are preventing opposition proposals from being approved. This means that the Budget will likely leave very similar to how it entered. It does nothing for salaries and pensions, and it also does nothing about the cost of food, supermarket prices, electricity bills, house rents, or mortgage payments,” she exemplified.
“It’s a budget that worsens the country’s problems, making life more difficult for those trying to make ends meet with their salaries,” insisted the candidate for the presidential election on January 18, 2026.
Regarding the campaign activity at Benfica Market, Catarina Martins said she went shopping to draw attention to the current cost of living.
“We need to discuss this in the presidential campaign, and a candidate for President cannot be disconnected from one of the country’s greatest challenges, which are prices. Food, essential goods. People budget to make it to the end of the month. Weekly shopping is increasingly expensive,” she explained.
“We need to highlight this. Politics cannot be self-centered. Politicians cannot spend their lives talking about themselves. They must talk about people’s real lives. I came to a market because, at a market, you can often buy fruits and vegetables at more affordable prices than elsewhere,” she added.
Catarina Martins mentioned that even the market vendors agree that prices are high.
“They are certainly not to blame for the price hikes. But in Portugal, we must face the fact that there is an oligopoly in large distribution. There are a few economic groups that dominate food distribution in the country while earning millions in profits, on the one hand, and on the other, we have very low wages,” she argued.
“We have much lower wages than most countries in the European Union, yet we pay the same when shopping. This issue needs to be addressed in the presidential campaign. Because one of the country’s biggest problems is the cost of shopping, supermarkets, electricity—everything is increasingly expensive. This must be a topic, as we need politics to address people’s difficulties.”
Accompanied by several members of her campaign during the trip to the Benfica Market, Catarina Martins stated that she spent nearly 30 euros on fish, soup vegetables, lettuce, and fruit.
