LPG adapters in Spain: which connector you need

Spain sells LPG under two names you will meet on the price board and the receipt: GLP (gases licuados del petróleo) and autogás. Both are official: the Spanish text of the EU alternative fuels directive says «el GLP o autogás es un combustible alternativo». What Spain does not appear to have is a publicly designated filling connector, and that is what this guide is about.

Directive 2014/94/EU, recital 7 (Spanish text): «El GLP o autogás es un combustible alternativo»

What UN Regulation 67 actually says

LPG equipment on European vehicles is approved under UN Regulation No 67. Paragraph 6.15.10.3 is the crux: "the design and dimensions of the connecting area of the filling unit shall comply with those in the figures in Annex 9". Annex 9 prints five figures, each a different geometry: the bayonet, the Dish, the light vehicle Euro, the ACME and the heavy-duty vehicle Euro filling unit.

UN Regulation No 67, paragraph 6.15.10 and Annex 9, Figures 1 to 5 (EUR-Lex)

None of the five is reserved for a country; one is limited by vehicle size. Figure 5's heavy-duty Euro unit applies only to categories M2, M3, N2, N3 and M1 above 3,500 kg maximum total mass, and Figure 4's ACME unit may also be used on those same heavy vehicles. For an ordinary car, the regulation leaves the geometry open.

Spain applies this regulation directly: the Ministry for Industry's Manual de Reformas de Vehículos lists "Equipos especiales para GLP Reglamento CEPE/ONU 67R" among the acts an LPG conversion must satisfy.

Manual de Reformas de Vehículos, revisión 7ª: UN R67 as the applicable act for LPG equipment

So a car approved anywhere in Europe may arrive at a Spanish forecourt with any of those connecting areas, and the rule does not say which one the hose will fit.

What EU infrastructure law does - and does not - harmonise

The alternative fuels infrastructure regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1804, does fix connectors, but not for LPG. Its Annex II specifies the hydrogen refuelling connector (EN ISO 17268), the CNG connector profile (UN Regulation No 110 with EN ISO 14469), the liquefied methane connector (EN ISO 12617) and a long list of electric recharging specifications. LPG appears in Article 2, among the non-renewable alternative fuels - and never again in Annex II.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1804, Article 2 and Annex II (EUR-Lex)

Annex II does cover one thing you will use in Spain: point 10.1 makes the EN 16942 fuel label compulsory. Article 7 of Real Decreto 639/2016 is the Spanish version - EN 16942 "será la referencia para los combustibles distintos de la electricidad", applying to refuelling points from 12 October 2018.

Real Decreto 639/2016, artículo 7: EN 16942 desde el 12 de octubre de 2018 (BOE)

What the Spanish rules say about the station side

LPG forecourts in Spain fall under the technical regulation for gaseous fuels, Real Decreto 919/2006, which devotes ITC-ICG 05 to "estaciones de servicio para vehículos a gas". That instruction says the design, construction, assembly and operation of LPG service stations shall follow the Spanish standard UNE 60630 - and says nothing about the shape of the nozzle. Neither boquerel nor boquilla appears in the decree; UNE 60630 is not published free of charge, so we could not read whether it fixes one.

Real Decreto 919/2006, ITC-ICG 05: estaciones de servicio para vehículos a gas y norma UNE 60630 (BOE)

Nor do the operators name a connector. Repsol, which says it leads LPG marketing and distribution in the Spanish market, explains autogas refuelling only as "una manguera más" - one more hose - and adds that "lo único que cambia es la manguera y la boca de carga": only the hose and the filler change. Which filler, it does not say.

Repsol - AutoGas: cómo se realiza el repostaje

That is the whole evidence base, and it will not carry a sentence like "Spain uses X".

The four names to look for when you buy a set

Buy by the names the regulation uses, because those are the shapes that exist: bayonet, Dish, ACME and Euro. If a set is labelled differently, ask the seller which Annex 9 figure each piece matches.

An adapter changes the vehicle end of the connection, so find your car's filling unit first - it is the part UN R67 dimensions. Two details from the same regulation help you locate it: no component of the LPG system may project beyond the vehicle's external surface, except the filling unit, which may stand up to 10 mm proud of the nominal line of the body panel; and where the container sits in the passenger compartment or an enclosed luggage compartment, the filling unit must be outside the vehicle.

UN Regulation No 67, paragraphs 17.2.1 and 17.10.2 (EUR-Lex)

The Spanish words on the pump, and the sequence

A filling station is a gasolinera, or an estación de servicio in the regulations. The dispenser is the surtidor, the hose the manguera, the nozzle the boquilla or boquerel, and the filler on the car the boca de carga. To fill up is repostar.

Real Decreto 639/2016 puts the fuel identifier "en los correspondientes surtidores y sus boquillas" at every refuelling point, and on or beside the vehicle's filler cap. So the check is a shape match: a circle for petrol, a square for diesel, a diamond for gaseous fuels, LPG among them.

Real Decreto 639/2016, artículo 7.2: la etiqueta, en los surtidores y sus boquillas y en los tapones de los depósitos (BOE) Revista Tráfico (DGT): círculo, cuadrado y rombo CEN-CENELEC - European fuel labels: «Identifier for gaseous fuel» (EN 16942)

The other names on the same forecourt come from the ministry's own product list: Gases licuados del petróleo (GLP) is LPG, Gasóleo A habitual is ordinary road diesel, and Gasolina 95 E5 and Gasolina 98 E5 are unleaded petrol, sin plomo.

MITECO - lista de productos del servicio de precios de carburantes

Renault's Spanish site sets out the sequence for its bi-fuel cars: open the filler cap, the same one as for petrol; place the boquerel of the LPG surtidor on the LPG filler; remove the nozzle when the tank is full and close the cap.

Renault España - cómo llenar el depósito de GLP

Three things that surprise first-time visitors:

• The tank will not fill to the brim. UN R67 defines the 80 per cent stop valve as a device limiting the fill to at most 80 per cent of the container's capacity. A 50-litre tank taking about 40 litres is working correctly.
• The LPG hose may sit on the ordinary forecourt. Repsol says its autogas is integrated into its service stations alongside the other fuels.
• Equipment is on a maintenance clock. ITC-ICG 05 requires every hose supplying fuel to vehicles at these stations to be replaced at least every five years, and a periodic inspection by a control body every five years.

If nobody is on the forecourt and you are unsure about the connection, plan the stop for staffed hours rather than improvising with an adapter you have not used before.

Where LPG is actually sold in Spain

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition publishes the prices and locations of Spanish filling stations with a stated update frequency of diario, daily. LPG is one of the products in that feed, and it is where the figures below come from.

Precio de carburantes en las gasolineras españolas (MITECO / datos.gob.es)

There are 979 LPG points in Spain, across 50 provinces and 233 brands, with a national median of 1.109 €/l. Last updated: 3 Sept 2026, 23:31.

Plan the route around the network rather than around the adapter: the full province and brand breakdown is on LPG (autogas), and the station map on LPG (autogas).

Hire cars, campervans and converted vehicles

If you are collecting an LPG or bi-fuel vehicle in Spain, the adapter question belongs to the hire company: ask them, in writing, which filling unit the car has and whether an adapter is supplied. For a second-hand converted vehicle, ask the installer or the manufacturer.

Next: LPG in Spain is called GLP or autogas: how to find it for how the fuel is sold and labelled, Driving to Spain with an LPG car: coverage, prices, forecourts for route planning, and LPG price in Spain today and how it compares with petrol for what you will pay.