Diesel at 2 euros in Lleida: the cost of working skyrockets

Diesel has breached the €2-per-litre barrier at the first petrol station in Lleida: the sign nobody wanted to see is now up. The surge, which pushes fuel to record highs and sends petrol prices back to March levels, means a monthly extra cost for workers across the region who depend on their cars daily. And it comes at the worst possible time, as the fruit campaign mobilises thousands of seasonal workers and hauliers across the fields of Lleida.

Diesel at €2 in Lleida sends the cost of working soaring

The figure, first reported by the Segre newspaper, confirms what many drivers were already quietly enduring: the easing of the fuel tax rebate approved by the central government has done nothing to curb the rise. On the contrary, the phased withdrawal of the discounts—introduced to cushion the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East—has coincided with a rebound in crude oil on international markets. The result cancels out any beneficial effect.

While Pedro Sánchez’s government boasts of having contained headline inflation, fuel prices remain on an upward trajectory that contradicts Moncloa’s messaging. Petrol, for its part, has returned to March levels: the surge is no isolated blip but a firmly entrenched trend.

Seasonal workers and hauliers are the first casualties

In a region where economic activity revolves around fruit farming and industrial estates, the car is not an option but an unavoidable necessity. Seasonal workers heading to the fruit orchards—many of them travelling from other provinces—watch as an ever-larger slice of their daily wage evaporates into the fuel tank.

Hauliers are hit twice over: fuel pushes up the cost of their work and squeezes their profit margins in a sector where competition is fierce and freight rates do not always keep pace with diesel prices.

The maths is simple. A worker covering a significant daily distance between home and job, with average fuel consumption, needs a substantial number of litres every month. At €2 a litre, merely commuting to work costs a hefty sum. For a seasonal labourer, that represents a very large share of their pay. The figure cuts even deeper when compared with earlier periods, when diesel was far cheaper and the same journey cost less than half as much.

Lleida’s countryside in the crosshairs

The fruit campaign, the region’s economic engine, is facing a perfect storm: soaring fuel prices join rising production costs, the drought that has shrunk harvests, and competition from third countries with lower labour and environmental standards. Farmers, who were already complaining that their holdings were unprofitable, now see transport costs to markets eating up a growing share of their income.

Cooperatives and farming organisations have repeatedly called for urgent measures, such as cutting VAT on agricultural fuel or introducing a subsidised diesel scheme specifically for the sector. So far, the Agriculture Ministry’s responses have been lukewarm and the aid announced insufficient. Meanwhile, farm-gate fruit prices fail to reflect real production costs, and the end consumer sees no benefit from a drop that never materialises.

Public policy arriving too late

The rise in diesel is not an inevitable fate. Behind every euro at the pump lie political decisions, geopolitical tensions and market speculation. The government phased out the fuel tax rebate with a gradualism many saw as electorally motivated—and which has ultimately proved ineffective.

Municipal councils and the Lleida provincial government have limited but not non-existent room for manoeuvre. Rebating local taxes, promoting public transport or encouraging car-sharing schemes are measures that, properly applied, could ease the pressure on household budgets. The primary responsibility, however, lies with the central government, which should rethink its fuel tax policy and protect the most vulnerable groups without abandoning environmental targets.

The Catalan regional government is not off the hook either. Alongside the councils and the provincial authority, it should pull in the same direction and set aside the partisan bickering that does so much damage to public administration.

The era of cheap fuel is over

Is €2 a litre a ceiling or a springboard to even higher prices? Experts disagree: some point to stabilisation in the coming months; others warn that geopolitical volatility and the energy transition will keep prices elevated for years. What seems clear is that the era of cheap fuel is over.

Investment in public transport, promoting electric vehicles and encouraging more efficient mobility models are not ideological choices but practical necessities. Lleida, a mid-sized city with a sprawling, dispersed region, faces the challenge of designing mobility that leaves no one behind.

In the meantime, the seasonal worker who rises before dawn to pick fruit, the haulier crossing the region from end to end and the small business owner carrying goods to market will keep watching the petrol station price boards with anxiety. The figure of €2 a litre at Lleida’s first station is no mere anecdote: it is the tip of the iceberg of an affordability crisis threatening the region’s productive and social fabric. And it demands answers that, so far, are not coming.