Gasoline Price: Drivers Face First Operation Exit This Summer With Fuel More Expensive Than Last Year | Economy

Anyone driving a combustion engine car in Spain this summer will have to dig a little deeper into their pockets than they did a year ago. After almost two months of decline, the price of fuel rose slightly last week, to €1.62 per litre of petrol and €1.47 per litre of diesel. That’s two cents and three cents more than at the end of June last year, respectively; at that time, petrol at Spanish petrol stations cost an average of less than €1.60, while diesel barely exceeded €1.44.

Over the past week, the price of gasoline has increased slightly…

Anyone driving a combustion engine car in Spain this summer will have to dig a little deeper into their pockets than they did a year ago. After almost two months of decline, the price of fuel rose slightly last week, to €1.62 per litre of petrol and €1.47 per litre of diesel. That’s two cents and three cents more than at the end of June last year, respectively; at that time, petrol at Spanish petrol stations cost an average of less than €1.60, while diesel barely exceeded €1.44.

Over the past week, the price of petrol at filling stations has increased slightly (0.06%), while diesel has risen by 1.17%. Thus, the downward path that began at the beginning of May is interrupted, according to data published this Thursday in the EU Oil Bulletin based on a sample of 11,400 filling stations.

The increase, although slight, comes on the eve of the first “Exit” operation during the summer holidays, a period for which the General Directorate of Roads (DGT) predicts 94 million trips, 400,000 more than a year ago. Of this figure, just under half (45.7 million) will occur in July, and the first special operation will begin this Friday at 3 p.m., with crowds expected at the exits from the main city centers.

From 80 to 90 euros per deposit

Filling up an average petrol tank today (55 litres) costs almost 89 euros, compared to just under 81 euros for a diesel car. In the first case, the cumulative increase since January 1 is about 5.3% compared to diesel fuel, which has not only not increased in price this year, but has actually fallen by 1.6%.

In addition to the gradual electrification that will soon begin to affect fuel consumption, the share of petrol in the private car fleet in Spain continues to increase. However, diesel remains the main fuel with a share of over 54%. According to the employers’ association Anfac, petrol lags behind by almost 40%.

Far from historical highs… and from the EU

In both cases, the prices motorists face at petrol stations today are a far cry from the levels reached in mid-2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent fuel prices to record highs, clearly above two euros per litre. The government was forced to activate a universal subsidy of 20 cents per liter.

Fuel prices in Spain are also significantly lower than those of most of its European neighbours, which impose higher taxes (as recommended by most international organisations to discourage fossil fuel consumption) and which are also forced to import most of the energy they consume. On the other hand, the Iberian Peninsula is one of the European regions with the largest number of oil refineries.

Petrol is currently close to €1.79 per litre at the average Eurozone station and €1.74 at the Twenty Seven; 17 and 12 cents more than in Spain respectively. For diesel, the difference is even greater: they average €1.64 and €1.62, 17 and 15 cents more respectively. Taxation is almost everything here.

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