The average price of fuel has remained stable this week compared to the previous one, in the midst of the Easter holidays, one of the busiest times of car travel in the country of the year.
The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) foresees more than 16.5 million road trips throughout this Holy Week, which represents an increase of 1.5 million over the figures for 2019 and 1% more than the 2023. The first phase will begin this Friday at 3:00 p.m. and will run until midnight on Sunday, with 4.2 million trips planned.
Specifically, the average price of a liter of gasoline, which had chained eight consecutive increases, remains at 1,614 euros on average, its highest level since mid-November.
For its part, the average price of a liter of diesel, which had registered two falls in a row, has not moved from 1,542 euros, according to data from the European Union Oil Bulletin collected by Europa Press.
The average price of both fuels began 2024 registering its first increases in three months, after accumulating one decrease after another since the end of September that led them to say goodbye to last year at the lowest levels of the year after adding a reduction in prices of almost 15% , in the case of gasoline, and more than 13%, for diesel.
The price of a liter of gasoline and diesel thus remains above the levels it was at before the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, when it was 1,592 euros and 1,479 euros per liter. , respectively.
However, both fuels are still far from the maximums recorded in the summer of 2022, in July, when gasoline reached 2,141 euros and diesel 2.1 euros.
With current prices, filling an average 55-liter tank of gasoline costs about 88.8 euros, about 90 cents less than on the eve of Easter last year - although then it fell on the dates from the 2nd to the 9th. April festivities -, when it amounted to 89.7 euros and the discount of 20 cents per liter that was in force for much of 2022 no longer existed.
For diesel vehicles, filling an average tank (55 liters) involves an outlay of 84.8 euros, about 65 cents more expensive than in 2023, when the price was 84.15 euros.
Likewise, with this week, diesel has now been below the price of gasoline for 56 weeks. It thus remains in the usual situation prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which caused the price of diesel to be more expensive than gasoline continuously from August 2022 to mid-February 2023, when the dynamic was broken.
The price of fuel depends on multiple factors, such as its specific price (independent of that of oil), the evolution of crude oil, taxes, the cost of raw materials and logistics, and gross margins. Furthermore, the evolution in the price of crude oil is not directly transferred to fuel prices, but rather does so with a time lag.
With these levels, the price of 95 unleaded gasoline in Spain remains below the average of the European Union, located at 1,742 euros per liter, and of the eurozone, with an average price of 1,794 euros.
In the case of diesel, the price in Spain is also lower than the EU average, which is 1,677 euros, and the euro zone, where the price is 1,706 euros.
