Return operation with the most expensive fuels of the summer
Fuels have become 20% more expensive since the beginning of July
BarcelonaAlthough the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil has managed to fall below 90 euros this week, this decrease is not reflected in fuel prices. On the contrary, gasoline and diesel prices in Spain continue to rise and have already been increasing for eight consecutive weeks, that is, throughout the summer. Thus, on the eve of the holiday return operation – the State Directorate General of Traffic expects 6.9 million journeys this weekend – fuel prices are the highest of the entire summer and are close to annual highs.
According to the EU Oil Bulletin, last week the average price per liter of diesel increased by 1.8% compared to the previous one and stood at 1.861 euros, consolidating at maximum levels since mid-April. For its part, the average price per liter of gasoline has climbed this week to 1.723 euros, after becoming more expensive by 1.55% compared to last week, reaching highs since March.
Thus, the price of fuels has chained this week the eighth consecutive increase, so that it already adds an increase of almost up to 24% since the VAT reduction to 10% expired at the beginning of last July, and it's reaching summer highs on the eve of the August return operation. With these new increases, the price of diesel has accumulated an increase of more than 23.7%, while gasoline has risen by 19.8%.
This rebound and change in trend in fuel prices was consolidated after on June 29, the Spanish government, in an extraordinary cabinet meeting, approved a royal decree-law to address the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East, which included a reduction of VAT to 10% for fuels that had been included in the first aid package.
Even so, the reduction of the special hydrocarbon tax (IEH) was approved, which meant a reduction of 15 cents/liter in July, 10 cents from August 1st, and was initially planned at 5 cents in September, although it will eventually be raised to 20 cents per liter for diesel fuel because the price increase in July exceeded the cap that had been set to reduce aid.
These rising fuel prices also coincide with August, which is one of the periods of the year when the most vehicle displacements are registered due to the holiday period, with a total of 54.5 million long-distance displacements planned for the entire month, according to estimates from the Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT). In fact, from this Friday until midnight on Monday, August 31, 6.9 million displacements are expected due to the August holiday return operation.
Filling the tank, 25 euros more expensive than a year ago
With this week's prices, filling an average 55-litre diesel tank costs 102.35 euros, about 24.91 euros more than a year ago, when it was around 77.44 euros. For petrol vehicles, filling an average tank (55 litres) currently means an outlay of about 94.76 euros, almost 13.5 euros more than a year ago, when it was 81.29 euros.
Despite the upward trend in recent months since the outbreak of the conflict in Iran, both fuels have always remained far from the peaks registered in the summer of 2022, in July, when petrol reached 2.141 euros and diesel 2.1 euros, then as a consequence of the war in Ukraine.
