Spain to eliminate tax on olive oil to ease price jump

Spain’s leftist government said Friday it will remove the value-added tax on olive oil, a staple of Spanish cuisine which has soared in price due to a severe drought that has caused a sharp drop in the country’s olive harvest.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government will from July “permanently” include olive oil in the list of “basic necessities” which are exempt from the tax, the budget ministry said in a statement.