Double standards: Spain sells cheap tobacco to France and cheap petrol to Portugal

Double standards: Spain sells cheap tobacco to France and cheap petrol to Portugal

Spain has authorised the opening of some thirty tobacconist shops on its border with France in order to attract tourists and raise revenue. The price of cigarettes is much cheaper in Spain than it is in France.

FRANCE
The irony will not be lost here in Gibraltar, where Madrid has continuously complained that lower prices on this side of the border constitutes “competencia desleal”. However, when the lower tobacco prices are on the Spanish side, as they are vis a vis France, it appears that the same rules and concerns no longer apply. It is relevant to note that the same issues arise with Portugal in relation to the price of petrol.
TOBACCO
The Spanish press has reported on this cross-border phenomenon in detail. Towns across northern Spain, in the vicinity of the French border including in Irun, Gipuzkoa and the Basque Country are apparently raking in the cash from thousands of French citizens swarming across the border to fill up their car boots with tobacco, alcohol and other products which are cheaper on the Spanish side.

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31-08-22 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR