Delete
The price of petrol has shot up on the Costa del Sol to levels last seen in September 2014

The price of petrol has shot up on the Costa del Sol to levels last seen in September 2014

It costs nearly ten euros more to fill the tank than it did at the beginning of the year in Malaga province, which has the highest prices in Andalucía

PPLL

Saturday, 10 July 2021, 16:40

Compartir

Filling a vehicle with fuel has become a high risk sport in Malaga province. The price has shot up in recent months to levels we haven't seen for nearly a decade. A litre of lead-free 95 octane petrol, which is the most commonly used, now costs 1.418 euros on average, higher than at any time since 2014, when it was 1.437. Something similar is occurring with diesel, which is now 1.276 euros a litre, the highest price since May 2019, when it was 1.289.

According to figures from the Ministry of Ecological Transition, lead-free 95 petrol has been rising steadily in price since November last year. In that month, people were paying 1.187 euros a litre at petrol stations. Previously, the cost had been much lower because of the pandemic and the drastic reduction in mobility: in May 2020 it fell to 1.118 euros per litre.

The graph shows a similar case for diesel. Although in March that year there was a slight rise, the cost per litre has been constantly going up since October 2020, when it was 1,054 euros. By province, Malaga now has the most expensive fuel prices in Andalucía, for both petrol and diesel, followed by Seville and Cadiz.

This evolution of prices means that consumers in Malaga now have to pay nearly ten euros more than they did at the beginning of the year to fill a 50-litre tank. In January it cost 62.35 euros to fill up with lead-free 95, and now it costs 70.90 euros. In the case of diesel A, the cost of a full tank has gone up from 56.05 to 63.80 euros.

An estimation by the OCU consumers association shows that drivers will be paying 311 euros more this year if their vehicles use petrol, and 250 if they use diesel.

The provincial association of filling stations in Malaga says this increase is basically due to the rise in the price of oil, which accounts for 36 per cent of the total. The remaining costs are practically fixed, because half are taxes (over 50 per cent in the case of petrol), 12 per cent are logistical and sales costs and two per cent is the gross margin for the wholesaler.

With regard to the rise in price, the vice-president of the association, Luis Calero, also points out a lack of resources and the bad image associated with some fossil fuels. He says that scarcity is obliging the companies to produce fuels by using alternative substances and this increases production costs.

On the other hand, he points out that there is also less competition nowadays because some major distributors have focused on looking for cleaner and less contaminating alternatives.

The rise in prices has become more evident with the start of the summer season, as thousands of families are going on holiday. The difficulties in travelling abroad because of Covid have meant that more people are driving on Spanish roads at the moment and, therefore, are using more fuel.

In April, the last month for which figures are available, drivers used 12,000 tons of lead-free 95-octane petrol and 41,500 tonnes of diesel A, according to data from the Cores corporation.

Consumption still lower than in 2019

Although we don't yet have the figures for the start of the summer, consumption in general is slightly lower than it was before the pandemic. In April 2019 drivers filled up with 14,751 tonnes of lead-free 95 octane petrol and 51,357 tonnes of diesel A. At the height of the pandemic, consumption dropped to 2,748 tonnes of petrol and 18,329 of diesel.

Luis Calero thinks fuel consumption will go up in July and August, and this would be a good sign for a sector which has also suffered during the pandemic. He says many filling stations lost a major part of their business and have still not recovered it, especially those on main roads, in towns with heavy tourist traffic and in areas around the airport.

He also points out that filling stations were classified as an essential service during the pandemic and were not allowed to close, even though they had hardly any business.

The first thing these filling stations noted in the slow return to normality was an increase in the numbers of lorries on the roads, then people travelling to work and finally hire cars, taxis and minicabs.

Reporta un error en esta noticia

* Campos obligatorios