CNG and LNG stations in Spain for trucks and camper vans

Spain sells compressed natural gas as GNC - gas natural comprimido - and liquefied natural gas as GNL, gas natural licuado. Neither is sold by the litre, and the site that sells them is not a gasolinera: it is a gasinera. This guide covers what a haulier or a camper van driver has to settle first: the price and its unit, how thin the network is, who runs the sites, and which points suit a vehicle that is not an articulated lorry.

The words on the forecourt, and why LPG is not this fuel

MITECO describes methane as the main component of natural gas and notes its use as a fuel for vehicles, both private and public.

MITECO - natural gas: composition and vehicle use

The site is a regulated gas installation, not a petrol station. Real Decreto 919/2006 defines estaciones de servicio para vehículos a gas as installations for the storage and supply of bulk GLP, or of compressed (GNC) or liquefied (GNL) natural gas, or of hydrogen in gas phase, for use as motor fuel.

Real Decreto 919/2006, article 2.1.e: gas vehicle service stations (BOE)

The Spanish you will actually meet:

• gasinera - the gas station. A gasolinera sells petrol and diesel.
• GNC and GNL - the two products, compressed and liquefied.
• surtidor - the dispenser; repostar, to refuel; €/kg, the price shown.
• autoservicio, estación desatendida - self-service, unattended: nobody comes out to serve you.
• gasóleo A is ordinary diesel and sin plomo 95 unleaded petrol; neither is what a gas vehicle takes.

One confusion is worth killing immediately, because it catches camper vans. LPG is not natural gas. Directive 96/53/EC lists the alternative fuels separately: electricity, hydrogen, natural gas including CNG and LNG, liquefied petroleum gas, and mechanical energy from on-board storage. The bottles that feed your hob and heater are LPG; a CNG or LNG dispenser will not fill them. If that is what you were looking for, go to LPG in Spain is called GLP or autogas: how to find it.

Directive 96/53/EC, article 2: alternative fuels listed separately (EUR-Lex)

The dispenser carries the harmonised European identifier. CEN publishes the labels under EN 16942 and shows CNG and LNG among the gaseous fuel identifiers, a family whose quality is described in standards such as EN 16723-2.

CEN-CENELEC - EN 16942 identifiers for gaseous fuels

The shape carries the family: the DGT's magazine explains that the labelling uses a circle for petrol, a square for diesel and a rhombus for gaseous fuels, in force since 12 October 2018.

Revista Tráfico (DGT) - fuel label shapes and start date

Priced by the kilogram, not the litre

Compressed and liquefied methane are dispensed and billed by mass. The ministry's price service treats them as products in their own right - compressed and liquefied natural gas, plus their biogas equivalents - and the figures below print their own unit: euros per kilogram.

MITECO - product list of the fuel price service

A euro-per-kilogram number and a euro-per-litre number are not comparable. Article 7.3 of Real Decreto 639/2016 provides that, where prices are displayed at a service station - natural gas and hydrogen in particular - unit prices are compared for information both in the usual units of measurement and in energy units that allow a like-for-like comparison with conventional fuels. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/732 sets the method: a price expressed as an amount of currency per 100 km, fuel price per conventional unit multiplied by fuel consumption per 100 km.

Regulation (EU) 2018/732 - price comparison per 100 km (EUR-Lex)

The only honest sum is your own consumption in kilograms per 100 km against the live price per kilogram. Current medians: 1.958 €/kg for CNG and 1.809 €/kg for LNG. Last snapshot: 18 Oct 2026, 20:00.

How many CNG and LNG stations Spain has

Every count here comes from the ministry's open dataset of prices at Spanish service stations, published daily.

Fuel prices at Spanish service stations (MITECO / datos.gob.es)

Spain currently has 97 CNG points across 30 provinces and 27 brands, and 52 LNG points across 26 provinces.

The provincial table shows how unevenly that is spread: know where the next point is before you pass the current one.

Provincial minimums and the brand tables are on Compressed natural gas (CNG) and Liquefied natural gas (LNG); the station lists are on Compressed natural gas (CNG) and Liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Who operates the network, and whether anyone is there

The brand table below shows who runs the LNG points today; the names are not the forecourt brands from the motorway.

Expect to serve yourself. Grupo HAM, one of the operators, describes its stations as automated, self-service and monitored in real time, open 24/7/365, and says they allow refuelling with any debit or credit card or with the HAM card for companies and the self-employed.

Grupo HAM - automated self-service CNG stations, hours and payment

Most LNG points are aimed at trucks

This is the part that matters for a camper van: the two fuels are not interchangeable in the market. Grupo HAM puts it plainly: LNG is a fuel intended for refuelling lorries and heavy vehicles, while CNG allows cars, light vehicles and lorries to refuel.

Grupo HAM - LNG for heavy vehicles, CNG for cars and lorries

Volvo stores LNG at temperatures as cold as -162 °C and warns that care is required in handling it; its gas-powered FH, FH Aero and FM are quoted at a range of up to 1,000 km. The same page notes that the only difference between LNG and CNG is that the latter is compressed at high pressure and stored in tanks on the truck, with the downside of a shorter range.

Volvo Trucks - LNG temperature, range, LNG versus CNG

Hauliers get a weight allowance: Directive 96/53/EC lets the maximum authorised weights of alternatively fuelled vehicles rise by the additional weight the technology requires, up to 1 tonne - 2 tonnes for zero-emission vehicles.

Directive 96/53/EC, article 10b and annex I: additional weight allowance (EUR-Lex)

The DGT lists gas vehicles among those entitled to the ECO badge: natural gas, CNG and LPG for cars and light commercials, and CNG, LNG or LPG at Euro 6/VI for vehicles with more than eight seats and goods transport. The badge comes from the Spanish vehicle register, so a foreign plate will not carry one: check any low emission zone on your route.

DGT - ECO badge: gas fuels and emission levels

The connector: what is actually specified

Spanish law does not name a nozzle brand. Annex II of Real Decreto 639/2016 states that CNG connectors and receptacles must comply with UNECE Regulation 110, which in turn refers to ISO 14469, parts 1 and 2 - two connector sizes, not one. For LNG refuelling points for motor vehicles the same annex carries the heading but sets out no specification, so there is no Spanish LNG connector standard to quote here.

Real Decreto 639/2016, annex II.3.c: CNG connector specification (BOE)

The manufacturer WEH states that its CNG receptacles are compatible with NGV1 fuelling nozzles according to ISO 14469 and ANSI NGV1 standards, for refuelling at 200 bar or 250 bar, on passenger cars, buses and heavy commercial vehicles.

WEH - CNG receptacles, NGV1 nozzles, ISO 14469 and ANSI NGV1

That is as far as the public record goes: we could not verify any specification assigning "NGV1" or "NGV2" to particular Spanish dispensers. Do not assume your filler will mate with a given pump - check with the vehicle manufacturer or the rental company.

Before you rely on gas in Spain

• Check the point exists today and note its brand and payment method on Compressed natural gas (CNG).
• Convert to euros per 100 km with your own consumption in kg, never €/kg against €/l.
• In a camper van, assume LNG points are laid out for lorries and that your gas bottles are a separate, LPG problem.
• Match the rhombus identifier on the nozzle to the label on your filler flap.

If the label is the confusing part, Fuel prices in Spain today and what the pump labels mean explains the set. For the other gaseous network, see Hydrogen refuelling stations in Spain: the real list.