Eduardo Costa / LUSA
Queues started on Wednesday and became more intense this Thursday, the day before a historic increase in prices in the archipelago.
Fuel prices registered one this Friday: road diesel rose 36.3 cents per liter, the liter of 95 octane unleaded gasoline was 21.7 cents more expensive.
“It doesn’t depend on the Government. There is a war, there is a terrible global situation”, explained Duarte Freitas, regional secretary of Finance for the Azores, in statements to the Lusa agency.
According to orders published on Wednesday in the Official Gazette, IO 95 octane unleaded gasoline now costs 1,921 euros per liter, in the Azores, and road diesel 2,004 euros per liter.
Therefore, this Thursday, many Azorean drivers went to the fuel pumps to fill os deposits of vehicles before the “fatal rise” in prices – a situation they consider “absurd” and never recorded in the archipelago.
They didn’t even go to the bathroom
The great demand for fuel has led to the formation of queues and long waiting periods at fuel sales stations, with employees complaining that they cannot even “go to the bathroom”.
The Lusa agency made a tour of gas stations on the islands of São Miguel, Terceira and Faial, where they found identical scenarios: long waiting lines and worries by the increases.
A “race” to gas stations Azoreans began on Wednesday, when it became known that prices would rise.
The movement has been practically constant and identical at all gas stations in the region, with there being cases where employees at payment boxes “they don’t even have time to eat or go to the bathroom”as happens at the Ribeira Seca gas station, Ribeira Grande, São Miguel.
Employee Georgina Rodrigues told the Lusa agency that “there are no hands to measure” for a situation that happens for the first time, as “There has never been such a huge price rise”.
“Customers are complaining that it’s a huge increase and they don’t get paid for fuel,” he said, explaining that there is still no shortage of gasoline and diesel, but domestic gas “is already not enough.”
“It will end badly”
Outside the establishment, after filling the car with 50 euros of gasoline, Luís Ferreira predicted that “this is still going to end badly” and people “will still end up walking or cycling”.
Paulo Garcia, who filled the service car with diesel “at the behest of the boss”, said that he asked him to fill the tank before the climb.
On a private level, he wasn’t too worried about the increases in gasoline and diesel, because he has an electric car and motorcycle, but he fears that the situation “affect everything”.
Still in Ribeira Grande, Carla Santos went to put fuel in her car, but didn’t fill it up “because it doesn’t drive much” and considered the increases “a absurd”.
In the neighboring municipality of Lagoa, at the fuel pumps in the city center, at lunchtime, people “bumped” 12 cars between the access to the service and the road, occupying one of the lanes and causing setbacks to road flow.
One after another, drivers paid with card, filled up and continued their journey, with some “relief in the wallet”.
“Poupei 18 euros”
“I always top up at the end of the month and that’s what I did today. As the increases come into effect tomorrow, I ‘kill’ two ‘rabbits’ at once: I top up and I save between 15 and 20 euros”, said Eduardo Soares.
Adelaide Mendes told Lusa, while waiting for her turn to fill her car’s tank, that today saved “18 euros”.
The new fuel prices lead to a “complicated situation for everyone”, he said, indicating that he has no memory “of something like this in the Azores, where diesel became more expensive than gasoline”.
“I hope this does not last long and that the Regional Government reviews prices weekly, because if that were the case, this increase would not occur”, he said, in an opinion shared by Paulo Picanço, when stating that the executive “could take other measures to help” the Azoreans.
On the highway connecting Lagoa – Ponta Delgada, where there are three fuel pumps, at 2pm local time (another hour in Lisbon), only one of them had reduced traffic, because it was being refueled by a tanker truck. In others the rows they were big and made up of light cars, trucks, buses and vans.
Cláudio Valdão waited in turn at the gas station towards Lagoa – Ponta Delgada to fill up his 1994 jeep, “why pay two euros for each liter of diesel it’s ‘a lot of fruit’.”
“I don’t use my car much, sometimes I even go to work bicycle, but from now on I’ll be going even more often”, he admitted.
“Fatal climb”
In turn, Joana Noia deliberately went from the center of Ponta Delgada to the expressway to “try to refuel the car and take advantage of the discount she has on her card”, after this possibility was rejected at another gas station “because the card didn’t work”. “Even if the card doesn’t work, I’ll certify it anyway, because I’ve never seen an increase like that. It’s a fatal climb.”
On the island of Terceira, there have been queues at the petrol pumps since Wednesday, with even some out of service.
In a queue to fill up the van, in Angra do Heroísmo, José Codorniz classified it as “a craziness” the announced price increase.
“I don’t know what people will eat in the next few days. The land gives everything. Using diesel like this, you can’t work with machines”, said the pensioner.
“I was ashamed”
The situation is particularly worrying “for those who have small salaries and have to pay house rent”, he warned, remembering that in 40 liters of diesel the increase is almost 15 euros.
“If I were a deputy I would be ashamed to walk down the streetthroughout Portugal. Last week, gasoline was 1.56 euros in Spain and 2 euros next door. Where do you see this? It’s a robbery”, he criticized.
Also waiting in line, which was already interrupting traffic, Anselmo Falcão considered the rise in fuel prices “too much unfair” for those who need to use a car.
“It’s substantial for everyone and I think it’s significant. If there was another type of management or mitigation on the part of governance, perhaps it would be ideal,” he added.
“And pay the bills?”
With the car almost on reserve, Sara Freitas said she waited in line for fear of running out of gasoline and also spared no criticism of the rise in prices.
“I think it’s absurd, because everything is becoming more and more expensive and we don’t see this increase in salaries comparatively. How will people be able to pay their bills?”, he questioned.
In the city of Horta, on the island of Faial, the movement scenario is identical. At the fuel pumps located at the entrance to the city, where the owner arrived on an electric scooter, Lusa recorded, at 3pm local time, a queue of 22 vehicles.
Taxi driver Roberto Malhão said that the “brutal increase” in fuel prices “will cause damage in various activities”, including the transport sector.
Hélio Oliveira filled up the motorcycle and reported that on Wednesday he had filled up one of the family’s cars to take advantage of the fact that prices had not yet risen: “It’s a huge increase and, at this rate, the people have to walk.”
