Spain is becoming an increasingly attractive place for Portuguese people to do their everyday shopping, SIC Notícias reports. The reason is simple: the price difference is now big enough to make driving several dozen kilometres worthwhile.
Petrol and diesel in Spain are currently about €0.50 per litre cheaper. Gas is almost half the price: around €15 compared with more than €30 in Portugal. So people are not just crossing the border to fill up or buy gas cylinders anymore. Supermarkets are now part of the trip too, with shoppers stocking up on household cleaning products, groceries and other essentials.
And it is no longer just people who live right on the border who are making the trip. A family of seven drives about 40 kilometres to do their shopping and says they save up to €200–300 a month. Another shopper drives around 80 kilometres and estimates the saving at €70–80 per trip.
Surprising, but true: sometimes it is cheaper to spend time and fuel driving to Spain than to buy the same things at home.
