Spanish consumer prices rose by 3.0 percent over the year to December as a sales tax rise hit shoppers in the pocket, provisional figures showed Wednesday. The inflation rate was unchanged from November, said a report by the National Statistics Institute, which gave no breakdown of prices in the month. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy\'s right-leaning government raised the top level of sales tax to 21 percent from 18 percent on September 1 as part of an effort to curb Spain\'s bulging public deficit.