Some experts foresaw and warned of it since last Monday, when the Spanish coalition government headed by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a discount of at least 20 cents per liter of fuel for all consumers from Friday 1 April.
Since that day, the Spanish media have been documenting how some gas stations have raised prices in an attempt to maximize their profits, without waiting for the compensation that the government will start transferring to them next week.
The government's decision to intervene to cut the price of fuels through direct discounts when refueling was first announced as a measure to calm the truckers who had been on strike for days, but later the government extended it to the rest of the consumers.
It will be applied from Friday and car drivers will see it reflected in the receipt when they go to pay for each refueling of gasoline or diesel. Of those 20 cents discounted, 15 will be compensated by the government and another 5 by the oil companies, which may offer even greater discounts if they wish.
But according to the Antena 3 TV station, between Monday March 28, when the discounts were announced, and Wednesday 30, the prices of gasoline and diesel have risen in one of every three gas stations in Spain.
In 746 of them it has risen five euro cents, and in another 172 it has risen 10 euro cents, despite the downward trend in the price of a barrel of Brent oil.
Diesel more expensive than gasoline
According to the newspaper El Mundo, the gas stations that have first raised the price of fuel after the government's announcement are those located on county roads and in rural areas. Most are gas stations located in places where competition is very limited or even non-existent. It has also been noticed in so-called low-cost gas stations (without personnel to refuel).
In some gas stations the price of fuel has even exceeded 2 euros per liter. And while the government and oil companies blame the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which raised inflation to almost 10% in March, many believe that not all of the increase is due to Vladimir Putin's warmongering.
On Thursday, for the first time, the average price of a liter of diesel (1,837 euros) exceeded that of gasoline (1,818 euros), according to the fresh data from the Oil Bulletin of the European Union.
Russia is one of the world's leading exporters of diesel.
Even so, experts expect that as of 1 April, with the entry into force of the discounts, consumers will perceive a considerable drop in the cost of refueling. The Ministry of Finance is working to enable mechanisms to compensate gas stations.
