COSTA DEL SOL HAS MOST EXPENSIVE PETROL
A litre of unleaded petrol now costs an average of 1.26 euros, while diesel is at more than 1.20 euros.
Laura Muñoz has been trying to make the little diesel left in her car last for days. On the way to work she eventually has to stop for petrol and is astonished to find that after spending 20 euros the needle on her petrol gauge has barely moved up three lines. “Petrol is becoming a luxury commodity. Diesel costs more than 1.20 euros now; it’s outrageous. Before I got half a tankful for the same money. At this rate I’m going to have to start using the bus”, points out the 27 year old nurse.
Her feelings reflect those of thousands of drivers who, as the consumers’ associations point out, have been watching the spectacular increase in fuel prices over the last few days with concern. In fact prices today are similar to the record highs recorded in 2008. And to make matters worse for residents on the Costa del Sol, according to the statistics for August and September (the most recent available from the Ministry of Industry), refuelling in Malaga was more expensive than in any other Spanish province.
General figures for the New Year have not yet been released although daily information of the prices at each service station is available. According to these tables the price continues to climb; at the beginning of this week an average of 1.26 euros was being charged for a litre of petrol in the province of Malaga, although as many as 30 service stations were asking more than 1.28, which, adds José Luis Sánchez of the Consumers Association Facua, “is the equivalent of no more than 200 old pesetas”, for those who remember them.
The situation for diesel users is no better. While fuel is cheaper, the average price of a litre this week was 1.20 euros, some 20 cents more than at the beginning of this year, when diesel fuel cost 0.99 and petrol 1.09.
To find out how this really affects consumers’ pockets all we need to do is multiply these figures by 50 (the litre capacity of an average car): therefore this week drivers have had to pay around 60 euros to fill a tank with diesel and 65 euros to fill up with petrol, six and eight euros more than in January this year.
The Manager of Agavecar (the Andalusian association of fuel vendors), Ignacio Fernández, points out that service stations do not fix their own prices as this is dictated by the price of a barrel of crude oil and they have very little margin to work with. He says that prices are increased further by the so-called ‘health cent’ a regional tax of 2.4 euro cents per litre of petrol and diesel. He points out that vendors are also suffering from the current situation as “at the end of the day when refuelling costs more, we lose sales”.
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