Copia de Gasoline price today, July 13, 2026: filling the tank is once again approaching 80 euros

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) does not have a specific published regulation that details, step by step, the internal procedure for updating the Hydrocarbons Geoportal. What is known, however, is the legal and technical framework that conditions this update: the legal obligation to supply data by gas stations and holders of mining rights, the use of geospatial web services, rules of transparency and reuse of public information, and limits derived from data protection and trade secrets. Based on this, it is possible to reconstruct with considerable accuracy the procedures and requirements the Ministry must follow.

1. What is the “Hydrocarbons Geoportal” and who provides the data

Sources distinguish two major blocks of information under this umbrella:

• Gas Stations Geoportal, focused on fuel prices, accessible at Gas Stations Geoportal and linked from the MITECO website (Fuel FAQs). News pieces like the one from Demócrata about the gasoline price explain that the portal is fed with official data and is updated throughout the day.
• Technical Hydrocarbons Archive (ATH), a cartographic viewer of the mining domain (permits, concessions, drillings), accessible in the reference geoportal (ATH) and described in the IDEE catalog (IDEE information).

In both cases, the Ministry does not “invent” the information but collects it from obligated parties:

• Service stations and wholesale operators, who must report prices and sales characteristics.
• Holders of hydrocarbon permits and concessions, who must submit technical and georeferenced documentation.

2. Procedures for updating fuel prices

According to MITECO’s own technical documentation and official presentations of the Hydrocarbons Geoportal (technical presentation), the flow is basically as follows:

• Stations communicate their prices via electronic systems (SMS or internet) to the Ministry, with a minimum advance notice before the new price takes effect.
• These data feed a central database that the Geoportal queries at very short intervals (sources mention updates on the order of minutes).
• The Ministry verifies that the station exists, dispenses the announced product, and that the communicated price matches the one displayed on the pump; non-compliance may lead to financial penalties, according to the Hydrocarbons Sector Law (amended, among others, by Law 12/2007).

There is no “citizen form” to change data: any correction must be managed through the station or the Ministry itself (MITECO publishes an incident email for fuels: bzn-incidencias.eess@miteco.es, cited in its FAQs).

3. Updating technical data of the Technical Hydrocarbons Archive

In the scope of the public mining domain, the obligation to feed the ATH comes directly from sector legislation. Order TED/593/2025, regarding the extinction of several Ebro-B, C, D, and E permits, expressly obliges holders to deliver all technical documentation “for the purpose of updating or completing the information available in the Technical Hydrocarbons Archive,” in application of Law 34/1998 of the hydrocarbons sector (Order TED/593/2025).

This information (reports, cartography, drillings, coordinates) is then integrated into the geoportal through interoperable services (WMS/OGC), according to Law 14/2010 on geographic information infrastructures and services and its amendment by Law 2/2018, which require administrations to:

• Publish geographic data with standardized metadata.
• Ensure their interoperability and dissemination over the internet as part of the Geographic Information Infrastructure of Spain.

4. Quality controls, transparency, and reuse

Although there is no specific public protocol for the Geoportal, the Ministry is subject to several cross-cutting regulations:

• Transparency: Law 19/2013 requires maintaining updated active publicity information and publishing data in accessible and reusable formats, promoting their availability on portals such as the Transparency Portal (Law 19/2013).
• Reuse: Law 37/2007 and its development by Royal Decree 1495/2011 require that datasets (including geospatial) be offered in machine-readable formats, with clear licenses and non-discriminatory conditions, and be integrated into open catalogs as high-value data.
• Data protection and trade secrets: Law 37/2007 excludes from reuse information subject to intellectual property rights or trade secrets; in the ATH this conditions which layers can be public.

In practice, this means that each Geoportal update must pass basic consistency checks (coordinate coherence, formats, metadata) and respect this transparency/reuse framework, although internal technical details (automatic validations, signature circuits, etc.) have not been published.

5. Limits of the available information

The consulted sources — both sector regulations and technical references and media chronicles like Demócrata on the daily use of the Hydrocarbons Geoportal (cheaper gas stations; daily prices) — do not include a public manual of “internal requirements” for MITECO to update these data. What can be stated with rigor is that:

• Price updates are continuous, based on mandatory submissions from stations and automatic Ministry processes.
• Mining layers are updated based on documentation that holders are legally obliged to submit, which ends up integrated into the ATH.
• All this is conditioned by geographic information, transparency, and reuse laws, but the internal operational detail remains as unpublished internal administrative procedure.

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) does not directly set retail prices for gasoline and diesel, which are free, but it is responsible for the regulatory framework of the hydrocarbons sector, supply planning and security, and price transparency and information. The Government, through this Ministry, can set certain regulated prices in specific segments (for example, liquefied petroleum gases by pipeline), as well as prices for certain services associated with supply. Market competition and business conduct supervision is exercised by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC), while autonomous communities participate in planning and authorizations of facilities. No further information is available in the consulted sources about detailed competencies of other ministries in this matter.

Basic legal framework: Hydrocarbons Sector Law

The starting point is Law 34/1998, of the hydrocarbons sector, amended by laws such as Law 12/2007 and Law 8/2015. This law establishes that exploration, refining, transport, storage, distribution, and marketing of petroleum products are carried out under principles of objectivity, transparency, and free competition, that is, without general administrative fixing of gasoline and diesel prices.

Under the general regime, it corresponds to the Government to:

• Plan in hydrocarbons matters and establish the basic regulation of sector activities (initial articles of Law 34/1998).
• Determine last-resort tariffs "in those cases in which this Law so establishes and set the types and prices of services associated with supply that are determined by regulation," according to the excerpt from Law 34/1998.
• Set general criteria for the establishment of retail supply facilities of petroleum products, which conditions the structure of the retail market.

These governmental functions are practically exercised through MITECO, responsible for energy policy.

Transparency and price information: obligations to the Ministry

A key piece is Order ITC/2308/2007, on the submission of information to the competent energy ministry (then Industry; today, its functions are integrated into MITECO). Its preamble recalls that, according to the Ministerial structure Royal Decree, the Department is responsible for the development and execution of the Government's energy policy.

Article 1 of the Order establishes that its purpose is to define the content of price, discount, and quantities sold or consumed information that petroleum product supplying companies must provide to the Ministry. It applies to supplies to vehicles and land facilities, vessels, and aircraft (article 2), and imposes obligations on:

• Wholesale operators of petroleum products.
• Holders of facilities operated by those operators or linked to them.
• Holders of independent retail distribution facilities (article 3).

The Order details periodic submission of price and quantity data (weekly, monthly, and yearly) for service stations and direct sales (articles 4 to 8), with electronic support. The annexes of this Order have been updated by subsequent resolutions of the Directorate General of Energy Policy and Mines, such as those of 2013, 2020, 2025, and 2009, confirming that MITECO maintains and strengthens this mandatory information system.

In summary, the Ministry:

• Does not set the free price of fuels, but requires operators and service stations to communicate prices and volumes frequently.
• Uses this information for market supervision and transparency, within the framework of Law 34/1998.

Regulated segments: direct price setting by MITECO

Sources show that the Ministry does set prices for certain regulated energy products, different from automotive gasoline and diesel. For example, the Resolution of January 12, 2026, and earlier ones like those of December 2025 or November 2025, publish the new pre-tax sale prices of liquefied petroleum gases by pipeline. This illustrates that MITECO has price-setting competencies in specific regulated products, although not in liberalized automotive fuels.

Role of the CNMC and other administrations

Law 34/1998 itself, in the transcribed part, indicates that an energy regulatory body is created and that it is necessary "to assign a single body the regulation and supervision of the energy market, to guarantee its transparency and coordinate" administrative action. This function was assumed by the National Energy Commission and, after Law 3/2013, by the CNMC, to which Law 34/1998 refers as responsible for energy market supervision and competition defense "without prejudice to the competencies attributed to the different competition defense bodies."

Additionally, the Law establishes that hydrocarbons planning is carried out by the Government with the participation of the autonomous communities, and includes general criteria on retail supply facilities, which condition the deployment of gas stations in the territory. No further details are available in the consulted sources about the distribution of competencies with other ministries or European institutions specifically on fuel prices.

Finally, although there are historical regulations that administratively fixed fuel prices (such as the Order of March 1, 1974, the Order of January 11, 1974, the Order of July 26, 1973, or the Order of 1971, as well as Decree 99/1969), the current regime is liberalized and MITECO’s intervention today focuses on sector regulation, price transparency, and supply security, not on setting the free price of gasoline and diesel.

In Spain, the obligation of service stations to communicate fuel prices to the Administration is mainly articulated through Order ITC/2308/2007, of July 25, issued under the Hydrocarbons Sector Law and Royal Decree-Law 6/2000. This order defines what price information companies must submit, with what frequency and in what format, as well as the sanctioning regime in case of non-compliance. The public dissemination of this data is the basis for tools like the current gas stations geoportal, although the term “Geoportal” does not appear in the order itself. This scheme practically builds the transparency system for fuel prices in Spain.

Specific basic regulation: Order ITC/2308/2007

The key regulation is Order ITC/2308/2007, of July 25, "which determines the form of submission of information to the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade about petroleum product supply activities."

Its purpose (article 1) is to define the content of information on prices, discounts, and quantities sold or consumed that petroleum product supplying companies must submit to the Ministry.

Regarding its objective scope (article 2), it applies to several supply activities, including:

• Supplies to vehicles and land facilities, through authorized facilities (i.e., service stations or retail supply points).
• Supplies through direct sales to final consumers for consumption in their own facilities.
• Supplies to vessels and aircraft, through different modalities.

Communication obligation: subjects, content, and frequency

Obligated subjects

Articles 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, and 16 (and their corresponding sections) determine that obligated to send information are wholesale operators and other subjects supplying petroleum products in the described modalities, including holders of retail distribution facilities to vehicles (gas stations) and those making direct sales to final consumers.

Content of the information

Articles 5, 8, 11, 14, and 17 establish that the information to be submitted includes, always with formats detailed in the annexes:

• Sale prices (usually retail pump prices before discounts).
• Quantities sold.
• Discounts applied, if any.
• Basic data of the facilities (identification, location, management type, etc.).

Frequency and deadlines

For service stations (supply to vehicles and land facilities), article 6 sets a staggered submission scheme:

• Weekly information (annex I.1.1): every Monday or the next business day if it is a holiday, and also when a price change occurs, with a maximum advance of 3 days before the application date and at least one hour before its effective application.
• Monthly information (annex I.1.2): within 20 calendar days following the month to which the data refer.
• Annual information (annex I.1.3): within the first 40 calendar days of the year, relating to the previous year.

For direct sales and supplies to vessels and aircraft, a similar scheme is replicated: weekly price submissions (or with each change), plus monthly and annual submissions of prices and quantities (articles 9, 12, 15, and 18).

Format, support, and submission platform

The order foresees that information is sent through software applications and file transfers, with very detailed field structures in the annexes (product tables, codes, date formats, etc.).

There is explicit reference to the use of the website http://www.mityc.es/risp as a portal to:

• Declare that the prices of a retail network coincide with the operator's maximum or recommended prices (article 6).
• Submit monthly and annual information files.
• Publish possible modifications in content, formats, and form of information submission (final provision one).

Additionally, the first additional provision requires maintaining updated census information of the facilities (registrations, deregistrations, changes), which must be submitted and updated within a maximum of 15 calendar days when changes occur.

Sanctioning regime and supervision

Article 19 explicitly regulates non-compliance. It states that failure to send information, sending it late, with incorrect data, or without respecting the submission form will be a serious administrative infringement, according to article 110, sections e) and k), of Law 34/1998, of the Hydrocarbons Sector.

The order indicates that the former National Energy Commission (now integrated into the CNMC) is responsible for agreeing to initiate sanctioning proceedings and conducting their instruction. Also, the third additional provision assigns it supervision tasks of compliance and informative assistance to obligated subjects, including a telephone help service and the preparation of an annual report on the degree of compliance.

Finally, article 20 empowers the Ministry to publicly disseminate price and facility information relevant to consumers, through computer or telematic means, keeping it updated. This legal basis has allowed the subsequent development of public tools for consulting fuel prices.