If I'm being honest, my initial thoughts were that in most cases Turkey would be considerably cheaper than Spain when it came to food and drink (and general shopping) with Spain coming out on top solely for alcohol.
Surprisingly that is not the case.
What I found was that for market style shopping, frut, veg, yoghurt, loose grains and pulses etc, Turkey is cheaper. Not by a huge margin though as the markets here can be pretty cheap when you stick with local grown seasonal produce, as opposed force grown crap from The Netherlands or stuff with more air miles than a salesman for IBM.
Once you start looking at supermarket shopping, things become even closer. I used Carrefour as a comparitor as it's got a presence in both countries - ok, maybe not the biggest chain in Turkey, but hey I wasn't going to do an in depth study. Things like milk and olive oil are cheaper in Spain as is fresh meat, especially beef. Pork is Spain's lamb and can be bought everywhere for well under €5/Kg for most cuts. Lamb in Spain is expensive, as is the very young milk fed lamb (cordero lechal), although in case of the latter, it's well worth paying that bit extra!
Fish is more expensive in Spain, but again, when you use the municipal markets the price difference narrows - I'm basing this on memory and a chat to friend in Turkey the other day so not exactly a robust methodology!
International branded goods are similarly priced, dishwasher tabs, detergents etc, and with store cupboard staples such as tinned and dried goods its very much swings and roundabouts. The supermarket own brands, or those from lesser known manufacturers I'd say are cheaper in Turkey.
Consumer electronic goods such as televisions, tablets, phones are definitely cheaper in Spain, as are branded white goods from companies such as AEG and Bosch. Beko is everywhere here and as cheap as chips.
Bottom line is that when it comes to food shopping, Turkey is cheaper but not by the amount you'd think. What makes food shopping in Spain worth (to me) the difference is the diversity and quality of the produce, especially when it comes to meat, charcuterie and cheese.
Eating outI think its possible to eat out in Spain almost as cheaply as in Turkey, lots of small bars have their menu del dia where you get two or three courses plus a drink (wine, beer or soft) for between €5 and €10. In our neck of the woods, tapas sizes are often a lot larger than those served up on the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca etc and unless you're in super greedy mode, three tapa are often enough for two folks. Add on a couple of drinks each and you'd struggle to reach €20, more often it'd be closer to €15.
One major difference is in how restaurants operate - you rarely see the typical Turkish resort menu listing more dishes than you could chuck a frying pan at. Restaurants tend to stick to one style of cuisine, and do it well rather than trying to do food from all corners of the globe. When it comes to "ethnic" food, Indian restaurants to have Indian chefs, Chinese restaurants Chinese chefs and so on. Only problem in Spain is that folks generally don't like spicy food so when ordering anything with spice heat you need to specify "muy picante", very spicy.
There is also the variety of restaurants in Spain, away from tourist areas you don't find a dozen places all serving up basically the food - Fethiye is a bit different to many places in that it does have a good selection of restaurants (some very good indeed) but I've always found the food in Turkey a touch... not sure of the best word here but I suppose similar might be it. Look how successful Mozaiz Bahce is, I think its because they offer something different.
Where Spain really wins over Turkey is with alcohol prices. Many of us like a glass of wine with (and without
) food and in my opinion the majority of the affordable Turkish wines are pretty poor quality. I've tasted some superb Turkish wines over the years but the production levels are low and the prices sky high. In Andalucia locals tend not to buy a bottle of wine with a meal, folks tend to drink it by the glass - you can often spot a tourist because they have a bottle at the table. Even higher end places always have a good selection of wines by the glass, to go alongside their extensive wine lists which feature mainly domestic wines. You'll get the odd bottle of NZ or OZ, but they tend to be expensive in comparison.
Beer
I've never known anywhere to have so many names for different sizes of beer! Caña, doble, copa, maceta, jarra, tubo, botella, all mean the same thing, just different sizes. The smallest measure, a caña, can be had for less than a euro and the actual amount you'll get varies from bar to bar! Roughly €2 for 50cl and not a drop of Efes in sight, Estrella and Cruzcampo are the most common down here. Works out about 8tl for a 50cl, but what price can you put on quality.
The gap in pricing here is only likely to get wider, another increase in Special Consumption Tax is due in June I think and you can guarantee alcohol, especially imported alcohol, will take another hit.
Food for thought
JF