‘The prices are incredible!’ Giddy Brit gets excited in Mercadona – but does it dominate Spain’s supermarket wars? 

BRITISH TikTok influencer Jamie Dear (@thedeardiaries) thought he was just grabbing some cheap snacks on his sunny Spanish getaway – but ended up wading straight into Spain’s supermarket wars.

With the giddy energy of a kid in a pick ’n’ mix, the self-styled ‘budget bab’ took to Mercadona on his trip to Valencia, sharing the sugary spoils with his TikTok following. But behind the cheesecake and white chocolate donuts lies a battle far juicier than Jamie’s snack haul.

In a video that’s now racked up more than 130,000 views and over 350 comments, Jamie squeals in delight over everything from cheese sticks to carrot cake. “The prices are incredible, this whole cake costs  three euros!” he gasped, holding it up like he’d found buried treasure.

The total damage? A jaw-droppingly low €23 for a sugary smorgasbord. Comments flew in faster than he could unbox his biscuits. One viewer remarked, “Whoever told you Mercadona was the worst doesn’t wish you well,” while another declared, “It used to be one of the most expensive, but not anymore.”

But here’s what Jamie didn’t say: he’d walked straight into the battleground of Europe’s most hotly contested supermarket sector.

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Mercadona may look like a humble budget paradise, but it’s actually Spain’s biggest retail beast – with a whopping 26.6% market share, towering over its nearest rivals Carrefour (9.8%) and Lidl (6.5%). It’s led by billionaire Juan Roig and raked in record profits last year, despite Spain facing pandemic-level inflation and sky-high energy prices.

And yet, for all its power, Mercadona doesn’t even have the most stores. That title goes to Día, which operates 2,288 locations across the country – although that hasn’t stopped its market share from shrinking after it offloaded hundreds of shops to Alcampo. Lidl, meanwhile, has been creeping up the rankings thanks to its discount charm, loyalty schemes, and relentless promo pushes.

But make no mistake: Mercadona isn’t just winning on scale. It’s raking in some of the highest profit margins of any supermarket chain globally. A big part of its success? Own-brand goods. A whopping 44% of Spanish grocery sales now come from private label products – a fact not lost on Jamie, who seemingly bought one of everything from Mercadona’s white-label lineup.

And while Jamie’s basket looked like a sugar addict’s fever dream, it unwittingly spotlighted a deeper truth: Spain’s supermarket scene is uniquely fragmented. Unlike the UK, where Tesco and Sainsbury’s dominate over 70% of the market, Spain’s top five players barely scrape 50%. Regional supermarkets and independent butchers, bakers, and greengrocers still hold major sway – especially among locals who prefer fresh, traditional produce to factory-packaged fare.

So while Jamie Dear may have just been making content for clout, his holiday haul tells a much bigger story about the future of food shopping in Spain. Forget sangria and sunburn – the real Spanish experience might just be fighting for shelf space at Mercadona.

As for Jamie? He’s now back in Britain, probably dreaming of white chocolate donuts and wondering how long until Lidl UK gets its act together.