Spain is eurozone bargain for motoring holidays in Europe
Spain emerges as the best value destination for UK holidaymakers in Europe in a new report by Post Office® Travel Services – despite the fact that pump prices in Switzerland have made it cheapest for unleaded petrol for the second year running.¹
In its’ Motoring on the Continent report, the Post Office® reveals that Switzerland is now the only major motoring holiday destination where unleaded fuel costs less than GBP 1 per litre.
However, the report places Spain as best value across Europe for both diesel fuel and motoring in a hire car. At GBP 1 per litre, it is also cheapest in the eurozone for unleaded petrol. Prices are around 30 per cent lower than in either Belgium or the Netherlands, which are popular motoring holiday choices for UK tourists.
The cost of unleaded petrol rose substantially in all 12 countries surveyed over the past 12 months. Increases ranged from 20 per cent in Italy and the UK to 32 per cent in France. But, although these figures make the much-debated rise in UK petrol prices look comparatively modest, the falling value of sterling masks the true position in Europe.
Post Office® head of travel Helen Warburton said: “Sterling has fallen in value by 14 per cent against the euro in the past year – and by even more in the other motoring holiday destinations. When we extracted this percentage from the price rises, we found that the UK had suffered the highest underlying price hike – 20 per cent at the pumps.
The report paints a very different picture for UK holidaymakers travelling to Europe in a diesel car. Spain is the cheapest destination by a wide margin. At 94p for a litre of diesel it is seven per cent cheaper than its nearest rival Austria (GBP 1.01) but 26 per cent lower than the UK, where diesel prices are some of Europe’s most expensive.
The differential between unleaded petrol and diesel was most marked in the UK and Sweden, with diesel costing 13p and 16p per litre more respectively. However the Post Office® found that diesel costs significantly less than unleaded fuel in four countries – the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Spain.
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