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Drivers filling up in Spain are seeing a familiar pattern at the petrol pumps, with petrol prices continuing to climb while diesel has finally started to come down.

 

The latest figures from the European Union’s Oil Bulletin show that the average price of a litre of petrol has reached €1.815, following a 4.79% increase over the previous week.

 

It marks the tenth consecutive weekly rise for petrol, with the average price now 25.7% higher than it was before the recent run of increases began.

 

Diesel, however, has gone in the opposite direction. The average price has fallen by 3.75% in a week, dropping to €1.795 per litre. It’s the first fall in diesel prices for around two and a half months.

 

The drop comes after the Spanish Government increased its discount on diesel from September 1 as fuel prices continued to rise.

 

The Government previously replaced its temporary fuel VAT reduction with a subsidy through the Hydrocarbons Tax. That discount initially reduced the price by 15 cents per litre in July, before falling to 10 cents in August. It was originally due to drop again to just five cents in September.

 

However, rising fuel prices and inflation prompted the Government to increase the diesel discount to 20 cents per litre from September 1.

 

The latest EU figures already take the new tax measure into account, helping to explain the sudden fall in the average diesel price.

 

Petrol has not received the same level of support, leaving drivers of petrol cars facing another increase this week.

 

Despite the diesel price drop, filling an average 55-litre diesel tank now costs around €98.45. That’s around €20.90 more than a year ago, when the same tank would have cost €77.55.

 

Petrol drivers are paying slightly more. Filling a 55-litre tank at the current average price costs approximately €99.55, compared with around €81.40 this time last year.

 

That means the same petrol fill-up is now about €18 more expensive than a year ago.

 

Even so, current prices remain well below the record levels seen during the summer of 2022, when the average price of petrol reached €2.141 per litre in July and diesel peaked at around €2.10.

 

Fuel prices are affected by a number of factors, including the cost of crude oil, taxes, refining and logistics costs and fuel companies’ margins. Changes in the price of crude oil also do not immediately appear at the pumps, with fuel prices generally responding after a delay.

For now, that leaves Spanish drivers facing a mixed picture: petrol continues to get more expensive, while diesel drivers are finally seeing some relief.