Petrol averaged €1.85 per litre across Bizkaia on Thursday, down from €1.96 the day before. Diesel remained at €1.93 after the government measures took effect.
The difference shows at the pump. A 55-litre petrol refill cost €107.80 on Wednesday and €101.80 on Thursday, saving €6 on an average visit.
The Spanish Government has also extended a separate 20-cent-per-litre benefit for agricultural and fishing diesel until the end of the year. It does not apply to ordinary private motorists’ fuel purchases.
The full tax cut has yet to reach every litre. Before the package took effect, the fiscal discount stood at five cents per litre. It has now risen to 20 cents, a 15-cent increase on paper.
The lower rate applies only to fuel bought by service stations from Thursday onwards. Petrol also moves through many forecourts more slowly than diesel, and stations are still selling older stock.
Diesel is different. Its 20-cent rate was already in force, so the new measure brought no equivalent immediate relief.
That accounts for the initial reduction. Petrol prices fell by eleven cents, short of the full 15 cents. The figures come from the Diesel o Gasolina portal and cover average prices reported at stations across Bizkaia.
CEEES had warned that the effect would be slow and uncertain for consumers. The employers' confederation says the decree does not respond directly enough to the fuel shock facing households and companies.
Electricity and gas have different tax treatment. A possible VAT reduction from 21% to 10% could apply when their September IPC exceeds 15%.
The Ministry of Finance and the Council of Ministers set fuel-tax relief at 20 cents per litre in October, with scheduled reductions to 13 cents in November and 6 cents in December. The 20-cent rate can be reactivated if prices rise by more than 15%, so the legal schedule and the price visible at a particular station may not coincide immediately.
CEEES also objects to the safeguard clauses tied to product inflation. Those clauses can activate extra IEH discounts, but keep a linear structure and add a delay of around six weeks.
An inflation peak recorded in September would not produce an extra fuel benefit until November. A peak in October could push the effect into December.
Timing is the problem. CEEES compared the schedule with the relief offered during the summer, saying the benefit may arrive after consumers have already paid the higher cost.
Its president, Javier de Antonio, has called the exclusion of automotive fuels from the direct tax tool used for electricity and gas unjustified.
The shield has lowered petrol costs, but the cut remains incomplete. Drivers in Bizkaia are already paying less, while the full fiscal effect depends on station inventories and future purchases.
Diesel drivers get no immediate benefit because the IEH for that fuel has not changed. The official scheme keeps diesel at the same 20-cent rate in October, due to fall to 13 cents in November and 6 cents in December.
The contrast is clear alongside earlier cost coverage involving Ford Almussafes. That report focused on a long-term labour agreement, not an immediate household expense.
The figures point to a partial result. Petrol is cheaper, but the full theoretical reduction has not reached drivers. Diesel has seen no change so far.
The Ministry of Finance presents the fuel measures as part of a wider energy package. The package also keeps limits on regulated gas-tariff increases and the price of bottled butane.
