Price increases for the New Year

Price increases for the New Year
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By m.p. - Jan 2, 2006 - 12:40 AM

The New Year has begun with price increases in electricity, gas and toll motorways, but pensions and the minimum salary go up. Photo � EFE.

Gas and electricity go up, but there is good news for the consumer for telephone charges

The New Year has brought with it price increases in natural gas and electricity, a government decision which has been slated by consumers organisations.

They say that the increase is ‘abusive,’ particularly the decision to penalise households who use what the government considers an ‘excessive’ amount of energy which, they say, takes no consideration of geographic criteria or the number of people in a household.

‘A numerous family is not going to use the same amount of energy as a household with just one person. Nor is a house in Andalucia going to consume the same amount of energy as one in the north of the country in the winter,’ said a spokesman for one of the main consumers associations.

Transport is also up. The Spanish capital is worst affected, with a 4.87% increase in 2006.

In some areas, such as Valencia, the regional governments are now adding a surcharge to petrol and diesel prices, with the money raised being ring-fenced to help fund regional health services. The rate is 1.2 cents more per litre of diesel and 2.4 cents more per litre of petrol.

Electricity goes up by an average of 4.48%, which means that the average household which paid 31 euros a month in 2005, will now be paying 31.40 including IVA.

Natural gas goes up by 4.25%, while butane gas is up to 11.24 euros a bottle.

The good news is that Telefónica tariffs will now be charged per second, rather than being rounded up to the nearest minute. The line rental tariff has also been frozen for this year.

The minimum salary has been increased to 540 euros a month, and pensions go up by 3.4% to an average of 632 euros a month.

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