The Spanish government has not ruled out prolonging the 110 km/h speed introduced in March this which was due to expire on 30th June. The new reduced limit which was introduced as a temporary measure applies to all motorways and dual carriageways.

Miguel Sebastian the minister for Industry, Tourism and Commerce said that the savings achieved by this initiative have been far greater than the government had hoped for and are nearer to 5% than the 3% which was originally forecast.

He said that the reduced speed limit was introduced as en energy saving measure following the increase in the price of petrol as a result of conflicts in Africa. However he also said that despite the fact that petrol prices were much cheaper now the amount of energy saved was enormous which was why the government was considering continuing the measure.

The new 110 km/h speed limit led to a 4.1% reduction in the consumption of petrol in April while the demand for petrol and biodiesel also went down by 3.

7%. Last month petrol consumption fell by 7.9% which translates as a saving of 94.2 million euros in petrol imports.

The department for Industry, Tourism and Commerce has said on several occasions that savings of up to 1,150 million euros in petrol imports could be made in one year through the speed reduction measure alone.