The escalation of the war in the Middle East, with the entry of the Houthis into the conflict, has sent oil prices soaring this Monday, reaching highs since the beginning of the war. During the day, the price of a barrel of Brent crude exceeded 115 dollars, although it later fell slightly and by the afternoon was around 112 dollars per barrel.

The Spanish government is working on a package of measures to address the economic consequences of the war in the Middle East, especially the surge in energy prices. Meanwhile, employers' associations, unions, and various sectors of the economy are already presenting them with different demands, some of which share a common denominator: a tax cut. In fact, following the round of political talks between the Ministry of the Presidency and the parties in Congress, this Thursday morning it is the turn of the major unions and employers' associations: CCOO, UGT, CEOE, and Cepyme will meet with the Spanish government's economic ministers at the Ministry of Economy.

Just twenty years ago, coinciding with the Tokyo Motor Show, Volkswagen presented the expensive concept or EcoRacer prototype, a type vehicle roadster –a convertible, rear-wheel drive, and with compact dimensions and weight—which the brand came very close to putting into production. In fact, it's not surprising that at that time mainstream brands were introducing small, sporty, convertible models. Opel manufactured a similar vehicle called the Speedster, Mazda the famous MX-5, and Seat dreamed of models like the Bolero or TangoBut what truly set the Volkswagen prototype apart was its engine, a rarity that would have made it a unicorn in the automotive world.

In mid-June, fuel prices were causing a scare. Although until then they had seemed to resist the conflict, Israel's attack on Iran That month, the threat of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz put upward pressure on the price of oil, and consequently, also on the price of gasoline and diesel, which rose by 0.4% in the penultimate week of June. Specifically, on June 19, a few days after the escalation of the conflict, the average price of a liter of diesel stood at 1.364 euros, according to the European Union Petroleum Bulletin (EU), while in the case of gasoline it did so at 1.463 euros.

Diesel seemed to be the fuel of the future in 1965. Trucks, vans, tractors, and other heavy vehicles used diesel engines, but their use in conventional passenger cars was practically negligible, as diesel engines were considered slow, noisy, and ill-suited for powering a car. Diesel engines were not used in the early 1960s, but diesel engines were not used in the early 1970s, as they were not used in the early 1980s, as they were not used in the late ...

One of the main concerns when changing a car is how many kilometers it has and how many years of service it can handle without serious breakdowns. A study by the University of Birmingham and of the London School of Economicscarried out on 30 million vehicles and with more than 300 million records of breakdowns and incidents, it has allowed us to approximate the real useful life of current cars.

The age of the car fleet circulating on our roads continues to grow and now stands at an average of 14.5 years, a figure 0.3 years higher than the 14.2 years recorded in 2023. This figure is even higher if we analyse the rest of the vehicles. We find that industrial vehicles are the oldest in the fleet with an average of 15.1 years, but not far behind commercial vehicles, with 14.7 years. As for buses, they are the youngest with an average of 11.5 years.

Consumer rights association Facua has reported 230 petrol stations for increasing fuel prices by 5 cents or more on April 1, the day in which the 20-cent bonus approved by the Spanish government to lower fuel prices came into effect. In addition, the increase pointed out by the consumer organisation coincide with the part of the subsidy that companies had to pay (the Spanish government paid 15 cents on the litre and companies another 5 cents). In a statement released on Wednesday, Facua said that in the absence of a response from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, it has opted to go directly to regional consumer protection authorities, which have the power to impose penalties.

The price of fuel fell by more than 10% last week in Spain, according to data from the European Union Oil Bulletin published this Thursday, which reflect average prices at service stations throughout the State. The bulletin states the price of 95-octane gasoline stood at €1.61/litre, 11.2% less than last week's €1.81, while the price of automotive diesel was €1.54 per litre, 10% less than the €1.83 of the last week of March.

Fuel prices have reached record highs driven by shortages caused by the recovery of the economy after the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. According to the European Union's Weekly Oil Bulletin, the price of 95-octane gasoline averaged €1.84 per litre in Spain, and the price of diesel jumped to a record-breaking €1.81 per litre.

Russia's attack on Ukraine has accelerated the rise in fuel prices in Spain, which were at historical records, but in the last week have soared, according to data from the European Union's Oil Bulletin on Thursday. In fact, 95 octane gasoline has risen in just one week by 4.4%, while diesel has increased by 5.6%. Both fuels have reached record highs: €1.679 per litre in the case of 95 octane gasoline and €1.581 per litre in the case of diesel. The price increase has gained momentum with the war, since the previous week, despite going up, gasoline had risen by 1% and diesel by 1.5%.

Despite the fact that the price of electricity has been the great protagonist of the summer, fossil fuels have also seen a sharp price rise over the last twelve months, which stands at around 22%. The prices of diesel and gasoline this August are at very high levels and recorded levels that were not achieved since the summer of 2013. And this happens at the gates of one of the weekends with more road mobility of the whole year, when hundreds of thousands of people across the country begin or end their summer holidays - and there is a significant increase in the demand for petrol at gas stations across the country.