The price of fuel continues to rise and, it will continue to do so for the duration of the conflict in Ukraine, predicts Dacil Jimenez for El Diario‘s CanariaAhora. In the Canary Islands, despite having the lowest prices in Spain, due to lower taxes, this increase has been noticeable, on some islands more than others. According to information published and updated daily by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, the difference between the cheapest fuelling station on the islands and the most expensive this Thursday was around 40 cents per litre, which, in the case of an average 40-liter tank it would cost up to €16 more to fill up.
While, by province, Las Palmas has one with the highest average fuel prices, the very highest prices in the entire archipelago are found in the eastern province, specifically on the island of El Hierro.
Comparing the current average rates with one year ago, the increase has been approximately 40% over the last 12 months. On March 1, 2021, in the western province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the average price of 95A petrol amounted to €0.9418 per litre. In Las Palmas, the price was €0.9647. As for 98A , the average in Santa Cruz de Tenerife was €1.09, and in Las Palmas, €1.095.
A year later, the average price of the 95 has climbed to €1.41 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and €1.43 in Las Palmas.
Most expensive
The most expensive fuel in the Canary Islands is found on the islands of El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera, and since long before the war in Ukraine. In fact, lowering fuel prices in the so-called green islands is a historic claim by their respective island cabildos. Barely a year ago, the presidents of the Cabildo of La Palma, Mariano Zapata, of La Gomera, Casimiro Curbelo, and of El Hierro, Alpidio Armas, met to analyze again the extra cost of fuel in their territories, and even then they estimated it at 30% more than anywhere in the rest of the archipelago.
The island presidents agreed on the need to find solutions to this problem that has been affecting inhabitants of the non-capital islands of Santa Cruz de Tenerife for years and that, to this day, continues without a solution.
With the prices of 95 unleaded updated this Thursday, the most expensive fuel in the western province is to be found in the three service stations on El Hierro, all at €1,564 per litre. In the eastern province, Las Palmas, the most expensive fuel is to be found at Marina Rubicón, in Yaiza, Lanzarote, at €1,519 per litre. There is a 0.36 cents difference in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and 0.32 cents in Las Palmas, between the lowest prices available at the various forecourts.
A year ago, the president of El Hierro already warned that on this island in particular the problem of cost-overruns “is accentuated” because the gasoline supplier works under an “island monopoly, with which the prices of the three service stations are the same “. The three west island presidents then asked the Canarian Government to delve into technical-economic solutions that would allow the price of fuel on these islands to be reduced. Today El Hierro continues to see the most expensive price per litre of fuel in the entire archipelago.
In the following graph, made by the Government of the Canary Islands, you can see the evolution of prices in the Canary Islands from January 2019 to January 2022.
Evolution of the average weekly price of gasoline and diesel in the Canary Islands
Average weekly fuel price in the Canary Islands GOVERNMENT OF THE CANARY ISLANDS
