In the Spanish town of Ayamonte, a municipality in the autonomous region of Andalusia that borders Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António, the discount given by service stations and which will later be covered by the Spanish Government reaches 10 euros on a deposit of 80 euros.

Added to this discount, granted by the Spanish Government to help the population face the rise in fuel prices, is the fact that the price in Spain is lower than that charged in Portugal: 95% gasoline in that country is now at 1,810 euros per litre and simple diesel at 1,789 euros per litre.

“I put in 40 euros of diesel and, when I went to pay, they gave me back four euros”, Marta Costa told Lusa, a Portuguese woman who was at a petrol station in Ayamonte.

The queues of Portuguese cars follow one another at gas stations near the border and the Portuguese are thus able to pay for fuel cheaper than in Portugal, where today the price per litre of simple diesel reaches 1,979 euros and that of gasoline 2,054 euros.

Extra discount

Lusa also spoke to Luís Antunes, who said he went to Ayamonte to fill up the car because “the price is cheaper than in Portugal” and ended up being “surprised by the discount” given by the Spanish Government.

“I came here because it is cheaper than in Portugal and when I paid they told me they would deduct the 20 cents per litre. The Portuguese government should follow this example and also support people to face this scandalous rise in fuel prices”, said the same source.

Luís Nunes also took advantage of his trip to the Algarve to spend the weekend to fill up his car on the way back to Lisbon and was pleased that, “in addition to the price being lower than in Portugal”, he also “benefits from a discount given by the Spanish Government and which is immediately in your pocket when payment is made”.

Service stations in Spain have been offering customers a discount of at least 20 cents per litre of fuel since Friday.

The objective is to contain the rise in energy prices and mitigate the impact on the pockets of consumers and companies, after the rises recorded in fuel and energy prices since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

The discount is in effect at all 11,650 service stations across the country until at least 30 June.