Algerians struggle to afford Ramadan feasts as prices rise despite government pledges

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — As Algerians fast, pray and gather for the holy month of Ramadan, a worry lurks in many minds: how to afford the holiday feasts this year.

In addition to its religious significance for billions of Muslims, Ramadan also means tables laden with rich and varied meals eaten after the muezzin’s call to break the fast at sunset.

Today, these feasts come at a cost beyond the reach of many Algerians, whose purchasing power has declined in recent years despite Algeria’s gas and oil riches, pushing more and more people below the poverty line.

Food prices have soared, and tensions at marketplaces now occasionally erupt into violence.

After Algeria was convulsed by nationwide protests in 2019, the government became concerned about broader social unrest and promised economic aid.

“In the 1970s, we didn’t earn much, but we could stock up for Ramadan and afford fresh meat, fruit, and vegetables,” Ahmed Messai, a retired railway worker, told The Associated Press at the Clauzel market in central Algiers.

On the ground floor of the market, the beating heart of commercial life in the Algerian capital, merchants’ stalls are well stocked with fruit and vegetables, displayed with enticing artistry.

But as Ramadan approached, prices climbed.

An older woman, clutching her traditional white haik garment, lamented onion prices going from 45 dinars per kilo to 100 dinars (35 cents to 77 cents) in two days. She hurled insults at an impassive vendor as he talked to her about profit margins. Carrots sell for 150 dinars per kilo, peppers 200 dinars and green beans 550 dinars.

The woman’s shopping basket remained empty.

The Algerian government has cracked down on Ramadan speculators, to little effect. At a special recent Cabinet discussion of Ramadan food supplies, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune vowed, “all conditions must be guaranteed to allow citizens to spend the holy month in perfect peace and without worry.”

Among his promises were government imports of 144,000 sheep and 46,000 cattle to make meat more accessible for Ramadan meals. Locally sourced mutton from Algeria’s High Plateaus, known for its flavor and aroma, as well as young cattle from the Kabyle mountains, have become prohibitively expensive even for middle-income professionals.

Civil society plays a key role in helping struggling families during Ramadan. Restaurant owners transform their establishments into soup kitchens or “mercy restaurants” serving free meals.

“It’s a good mechanism for solidarity and civic awareness,” said academic Hocine Zairar, “but the proliferation of this type of restaurant says something serious about our society: how poverty is gaining ground in our country.”

One of the largest mercy restaurant operations in Algiers is run across different neighborhoods by the Algerian Red Crescent. People fill rows of long tables inside a huge tent in a central square to break their fast. “The atmosphere is family-friendly and we serve up to 800 meals a day,” said Nour el-Houda Remdani, one of the organizers, as she walked between the rows of diners benefiting from the provisions.

Mercy restaurants used to be frequented mainly by singles, people without housing or travelers. But in recent years, entire families now fill these makeshift eateries.

Even the president acknowledged profound economic shifts in recent years.

“The middle class, once the pride of Algeria, is now being decimated by the crisis,” Tebboune said in an interview on Algerian television earlier this month.

Tebboune has also promised an increase in the minimum wage from 20,000 to 24,000 dinars, an increase in retirement pensions of 5 to 10%, and an increase in unemployment benefits for university graduates, from 15,000 to 18,000 dinars.

The average salary in Algeria is 42,800 dinars, the equivalent of approximately $330 according to the official exchange rate, and less than $235 on the informal market.

Professor Redouane Boudjema of the Institute of Journalism in Algiers said the government’s Ramadan aid measures represented an effort to ensure “social peace” and “absorb political anger stemming from restrictions on civil and trade union freedoms.”

People stock up on food at a market in Algiers, Algeria, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fateh Guidoum)

People stock up on food at a market in Algiers, Algeria, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2026, before the start of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Fateh Guidoum)

People stock up on food at a market in Algiers, Algeria, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2026, before the start of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Fateh Guidoum)

People walk at a market in Algiers, Algeria, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Fateh Guidoum)

People stock up on food at a market in Algiers, Algeria, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2026, before the start of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Fateh Guidoum)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A heated U.S. Senate race in Texas entered its final stretch on Sunday with candidates on both sides of the aisle making final pitches to voters ahead of Tuesday's primary, the nation’s first big contest of the 2026 midterm elections.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is trying to hold on to the seat he has held since first being elected in 2002, but finds himself in the toughest race of his long career against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.

“Complacency is a killer,” Cornyn told voters Saturday at a seafood restaurant in The Woodlands, a Houston suburb. “It kills relationships. It kills careers.”

Democrats haven’t won a Senate race in Texas since 1988, but they see an opening this year to help boost their long-shot hopes of recapturing a Senate majority, especially if Republicans nominate Paxton, who is popular with MAGA voters but has had years of legal problems.

On the Democratic side, state Rep. James Talarico, a self-described policy wonk who emphasizes his crossover appeal to Republicans, faces U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a rhetorical brawler on Capitol Hill who received a high-profile endorsement Friday from former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Candidates and political groups are pouring money into the race at a record pace, partly fueled by Talarico's fundraising and allies of Cornyn trying to save his long career.

Heading into Tuesday’s primary elections, the cost of advertising and reserved advertising time had topped $110 million, the most ever for a Senate primary, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

A late visit to Texas on Friday by President Donald Trump, who used the Port of Corpus Christi as a backdrop for a speech highlighting energy production, drew all of the top Republican U.S. Senate candidates. And while Trump said Friday he's “pretty much” decided whom to endorse, he declined to name who he'll actually support.

“We have a great attorney general, Ken Paxton. Where’s Ken? Hi, Ken,” Trump said. He continued, “And we have a great senator, John Cornyn. Hi, John.”

Noting that they’re in a “little bit of a race,” Trump added: ’It’s going to be an interesting one, right? They’re both great people.”

Despite his long career in Texas politics, Paxton has painted himself as a Washington outsider and a staunch supporter of Trump.

“I'm not going up to Washington, D.C., to join the swamp club,” Paxton said at a campaign event in Fort Worth. “I will go up there and fight for you.”

Primary candidate for U.S. Senate Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, left, poses for a photo with a supporter at a campaign stop in Dallas, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks during a campaign event, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Tyler, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, left, poses for photos and visits with supporters during a campaign stop in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)