The rise in the price of hydrocarbons has nullified the Spanish government's discount. In the Balearics, consumers are paying more than when the 20 cents per litre discount was introduced on April 1.
Figures from the national ministry for ecological transition indicate that the average price per litre of 95 petrol in the Balearics on March 31 was 1.856 euros. This Wednesday it was 2.177 euros, so filling a 50-litre tank costs 98.85 euros with the discount, about six euros more than before the discount came in (92.80 euros).
For 98 petrol, which costs an average 2.331 euros per litre, there is a similar difference, but diesel has not gone up as much as petrol.
The discount is set to be extended beyond June 30, the Balearics director-general of energy and climate change, Pep Malagrava, saying that the help in the form of the discount was necessary but that it cannot be sustained indefinitely, "as this depends on a market which we do not control".
Malagrava believes that there needs to be an increase in the number of public transport routes and in the frequencies in order to make public transport more attractive and competitive, "so that people aren't forced to have to use so many private vehicles".
He is also critical of the discount in that those who benefit the most are the ones who consume the most, those "with the highest incomes". The discount, in his view, "makes no sense if it is not progressive".