The government-approved 20 cents per liter fuel rebate did not prevent Filling the tank in the second operation out of summer will cost between 16 and 23 euros more than a year ago, depending on whether gasoline or diesel is used, in the most expensive August in history.
According to data released this Thursday by the Petroleum Bulletin of the European Union (EU), which includes the average price recorded at more than 11,400 Spanish gas stations between July 26 and August 1, petrol sells in Spain at an average of 1,702 euros per litre, while the diesel does it at 1,693 euros.
These prices, which include the government’s 20 cent rebate, mean that filling an average 55 liter tank with both petrol and diesel costs 93 euros, which translates to pay about 16 euros more than a year ago if petrol is used, and 23 euros if diesel is chosen.
Several weeks of falls
In this sense, and despite the fact that fuels have accumulated several weeks of declines, current prices are the most expensive in history for a month of Augusta period in which there is usually a marked increase in mobility on Spanish roads due to the summer holidays.
So far, the highest prices in the first week of August were recorded in 2013, nine years ago, when a liter of petrol cost 1,472 euros and that of diesel 1,376 euros, 16% and 19% less, respectively, than the current values.
They are also 17% and 25% higher than the prices recorded for petrol and diesel last August, when mobility began to recover during the summer months after the coronavirus crisis, and reached prices of 1.416 and 1.29 euros, respectively.
Regarding the values of August 2020, the year of the pandemic, when mobility levels fell, gasoline is now 32% more expensive than a year ago, compared to 37% as diesel has become more expensive, while if the comparison is made with August 2019, before the pandemic, the increases are smoothed to 22% and 28%, respectively.
However, the prices without the government discount would be even higher -1,902 euros for petrol and 1,893 for diesel-, so this bonus allows consumers to save around 11 euros when filling the tank, whether they use gasoline or diesel.
Below the European average
In addition, current prices are already lower than those practiced on average by Spanish petrol stations at the end of March, when the premium was approved and prices began to skyrocket to exceed 2 euros per liter -without the discount- .
Despite the historically high levels recorded by gasoline and diesel in Spain, the drop in the tax burden borne by the two fuels and the premium approved by the executive place their price below the European average -1,856 euros for gasoline and 1,878 euros for diesel.
Thus, the most expensive gasoline in the EU is currently found in Denmark (2.218 euros) and Finland (2.19 euros), while the highest priced diesel is also found in the Nordic countries, more precisely in Sweden. (2.37 euros) and in Finland (2,153 euros). euros).
On the contrary, the lowest gasoline prices on the continent are recorded in Hungary (1.29 euro) and Malta (1.34 euro), and those of diesel are again marked by Malta (1.21 euro) and Hungary (1,558 euros).
Compared to neighboring countries, the average prices of gasoline and diesel in Spain show the lowest valuesbeing overtaken by Germany, where gasoline is paid for at 1,814 euros and diesel at 1,943 euros, France (respectively 1,844 and 1,878 euros), Italy (1,877 and 1,851 euros) and the Portugal (1,889 and 1.83 euros).