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Staff reporter

PALMA
MOTORISTS holidaying in Europe this year will find petrol cheapest in Spain and Switzerland according to a survey by the Post Office.
Across Europe, petrol is cheapest in Switzerland at only 75p per litre, according to the UK's largest provider of foreign currency, but in the Euro zone, the cheapest petrol is here in Spain.

Pump prices have dropped in Spain cutting the cost of fuel by 9p per litre, making it a close runner up to Switzerland and the cheapest of seven euro zone motoring holiday destinations surveyed.

At 78p per litre, unleaded petrol costs 24p less in Spain than in the Netherlands, the most expensive of the euro destinations.
And, with the growing interest in eco-tourism, motoring tourists using environmentally-friendly LPG (liquid petroleum gas) can expect to cut their fuel costs dramatically - by two-thirds in the Netherlands, the most expensive country for unleaded petrol but the cheapest for LPG.

In the latest of a series of foreign currency surveys, the Post Office's report into current fuel costs in 12 European motoring holiday destinations found that LPG costs just 33p per litre in the Netherlands compared with 1.02 pound for unleaded petrol.

The same picture emerges in neighbouring Belgium one pound per litre for unleaded, but just 36p for LPG. This means that UK motorists using LPG can travel 1'000 miles for over 100 pounds less than unleaded petrol.

Overall LPG fuel is cheaper by over 50 per cent in eight of the 11 countries surveyed (Spain was discounted as it is not widely available) and only in Denmark is LPG more expensive than petrol.

Although unleaded petrol costs least in Switzerland, it is showing the biggest price increase over two years, now costing 18p more than in 2005.
Along with Spain and Austria, petrol costs are significantly lower than in other countries, at least 12p less and with a differential of 34p (over 30 per cent) between the highest and lowest prices.

Post Office's head of travel services Kevin McAdam said: “We advise UK holidaymakers to plan their motoring itineraries carefully in advance. “If you are travelling down through Germany and crossing into Austria, it makes sense to fill up in Austria, where unleaded petrol costs around 19 per cent less. Similarly, LPG users will pay 60 per cent more when they cross the border from Sweden into Denmark. “Motorists can also make savings on paying for fuel too.” The UK hovers around the middle of both the unleaded petrol and LPG tables.
But, whilst the price per litre for unleaded petrol has been threatening to hit the one pound mark in the UK for some time, it has already done so in four of the countries surveyed - Denmark and Norway as well as Belgium and the Netherlands.