Good afternoon. Road tolls (see yesterday’s Daily Briefing) are not the only potential flashpoint for protests about the cost of living. News that some bakeries have increased their bread prices today, by up to 30%, is also liable to lead to discontent, and potential violence (see below).
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The price of bread has long been a sensitive issue: it is a staple food on which the poor majority depend. In 2010, increases of up to 30% in bread prices triggered riots which led to mass protests and several people being shot dead by police. After this, the government introduced a subsidy for flour, to hold down bread prices. It was withdrawn several years later, but by then, help had arrived in the form of the Espiga d’Ouro bread factory, which opened in 2017. Churning out around 2m loaves of bread a day, the factory was able to provide cheap bread through a network of neighbourhood distributors, although this also drove some smaller bakers out of business.
