Drivers across Mallorca are continuing to feel the squeeze at the petrol pump, with fuel prices having climbed sharply in recent months and many stations now charging around €2 a litre or more.
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There is, however, some relief heading into October. The Spanish Government has decided to extend its temporary fuel tax reductions, avoiding the much larger increase that had been feared when the measures were due to expire at the end of September.
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The change comes as petrol prices across the Balearic Islands remain noticeably higher than they were earlier this summer.
More than €10 difference on a full tank
The price you pay still depends heavily on where you fill up.
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At the end of September, some of the cheapest petrol in Mallorca could still be found for less than €1.90 a litre. On 28 September, 95 petrol was reported at €1.815 per litre at the Eroski station in Binissalem, while other stations were charging considerably more.
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That difference might not sound huge at the pump, but it quickly adds up. For a 50-litre tank, the difference between €1.815 and just over €2 a litre is more than €10.
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And with many people driving considerably more than 50 litres over the course of a month, the increase is becoming difficult to ignore.
Fuel is still expensive
That does not mean prices are returning to where they were earlier in the year.
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Fuel prices have risen substantially during the summer, with international energy prices and wider market conditions feeding through to Spanish filling stations. The Balearics have also faced some of the higher fuel costs seen around Spain.
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For Mallorca’s drivers, the difference between filling up at one station or another can therefore still be significant.
What happens from October?
There had been growing concern that fuel prices could rise again from 1 October, when the existing tax reductions were due to expire.
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The Balearic petrol-station industry had warned that ending the measures could add around 6 cents per litre to petrol and up to 24 cents to diesel, on top of prices that are already high.
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The Spanish Government has now extended the reductions through the end of the year. The discount will be 20 cents per litre in October, 13 cents in November and 6 cents in December, with a safeguard that could increase the reduction again if fuel-price inflation remains particularly high.
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So although petrol prices remain considerably higher than they were earlier in the summer, drivers in Mallorca will not face the much larger increase that had been feared for the start of October.
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