LPG in Spain is called GLP or autogas: how to find it

If you are driving into Spain with an LPG car, the most useful thing to learn is a word. Spanish forecourts - gasolineras, or estaciones de servicio - do not say LPG. They say GLP - gases licuados del petróleo - and on totems and price boards they say autogas. Same product, two Spanish names, plus the English one on the pump label. Ask for gas alone and you may be sent to the cooking bottles; ask for GLP or autogas and you will be understood anywhere.

GLP, autogas, LPG: one fuel, three words

Both Spanish names are used interchangeably, and the operators say so in writing. Repsol writes «El AutoGas o GLP de automoción es un tipo de gas utilizado como combustible», and elsewhere that it is «una mezcla de butano y propano». Grupo DISA opens its autogas page with «El GLP (Gas Licuado del Petróleo) o AutoGas».

Repsol - «El AutoGas o GLP de automoción… una mezcla de butano y propano» Grupo DISA - «El GLP (Gas Licuado del Petróleo) o AutoGas»

The legal name is the longer one. Article 5 of Real Decreto 61/2006 states that the specifications of «propano comercial, butano comercial y gases licuados del petróleo (GLP) para automoción» are set out respectively in annexes V, VI and VII. Automotive LPG is its own regulated product, annex VII, distinct from the propane and butane sold in bottles.

RD 61/2006, artículo 5 y anexo VII: especificaciones del GLP de automoción (BOE)

Its quality standard is the European one: UNE-EN 589:2025, Combustibles para automoción. GLP. Requisitos y métodos de ensayo, identical to EN 589:2024. Nothing about the fuel itself changes when you cross the border.

UNE-EN 589:2025, idéntica a EN 589:2024 (AENOR)

The label on the pump: a diamond that says LPG

You need not rely on the Spanish word at all: the pump carries a harmonised European identifier. The DGT describes the shapes plainly: «un círculo para la gasolina, un cuadrado para el gasóleo y un rombo para los combustibles gaseosos». LPG sits in the diamond.

Revista Tráfico (DGT): círculo, cuadrado y rombo

CEN-CENELEC confirms what goes inside that diamond: the gaseous-fuel identifiers (CNG, H2, LNG, LPG) are «applicable to gaseous fuels, including liquefied gaseous products, which quality is for instance described in EN 589, EN 16723-2 or ISO 14687».

CEN-CENELEC - European fuel labels: gaseous fuel identifiers and EN 589

This is not decoration. Article 7.5 of Real Decreto 639/2016 makes EN 16942 «la referencia para los combustibles distintos de la electricidad» and adds that «sus requisitos serán de aplicación a los puntos de repostaje y a todos los vehículos a motor matriculados a partir del 12 de octubre de 2018». So the LPG diamond on your filler flap at home is the one on the Spanish pump: match the two and ignore the branding.

RD 639/2016, artículo 7.5: etiquetado EN 16942 en los puntos de repostaje (BOE)

It is priced by the litre, not by the kilo

Autogas in Spain is dispensed and billed in litres, like petrol and diesel. Grupo DISA compares «el precio por litro del AutoGas» directly with «el precio por litro de la gasolina», and the Ministry publishes Gases licuados del petróleo as one of its petroleum products, alongside Gasolina 95 E5 (unleaded 95) and Gasóleo A habitual (ordinary diesel).

MITECO - listado oficial de productos petrolíferos publicados

That matters if you come from a country that quotes alternative fuels by weight: compressed natural gas is sold by the kilogram, autogas is not. The national median for autogas is 1.109 €/l, against 1.839 €/l for unleaded 95. Last price snapshot: 3 Sept 2026, 23:31.

The breakdown by province and by brand, with the cheapest sites, is in LPG (autogas).

Not every station has it

Autogas is widely available but far from universal, and unevenly spread: there are 979 autogas points in Spain, across 50 provinces, 558 municipalities and 233 brands. The figures come from the Ministry's daily open dataset of prices at every Spanish service station.

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

Rather than assume the next village will have it, read the province table above and plan the stop: the station-by-station map is in LPG (autogas).

Filling up: the hose is the only thing that changes

Repsol puts it simply: «El repostaje es prácticamente igual al de un coche de gasolina o diésel y el tiempo de repostaje es muy similar. Lo único que cambia es la manguera y la boca de carga». Its instructions: gloves on, cap off, hose connected firmly, then «presiona el botón de inicio en el surtidor y mantenlo hasta que se detenga automáticamente», wait for the pressure to release, «pulsa el botón de liberación de la manguera y desconéctala», refit the cap.

Repsol - cómo repostar GLP paso a paso

The words on the machine are worth learning before you need them: the surtidor is the pump, the manguera the hose, the boquerel the nozzle, and repostar is to refuel. DISA notes that «a diferencia del boquerel de gasolina, el de gas no hay que estar pulsándolo»: unlike a petrol nozzle, you do not hold the gas one down.

The adapter is the other thing to sort out before you leave. Repsol warns that «en algunos casos, es posible que necesites un adaptador para conectar la manguera del surtidor a la toma de llenado de tu vehículo», and Renault's owner manual explains that the filling adapter «se proporciona en una bolsa en la guantera» but that «la presencia o no de este elemento en el vehículo depende del país donde se comercializó en origen el vehículo».

Renault - adaptador de llenado y dependencia del país

Which fitting your car needs is a question for the manufacturer or the rental company, not something to discover on a forecourt at midnight. LPG adapters in Spain: which connector you need goes through it.

Unattended forecourts and how you actually pay

Do not assume a member of staff. Spanish law has two categories, both defined in ITC MI-IP 04 (Real Decreto 706/2017). A self-service installation is one where «el personal presente en la instalación no realiza el suministro al vehículo, que es llevado a cabo por el cliente». An unattended installation goes further: «aquella que funciona sin que exista personal de la instalación que ejercite control o supervisión directa del suministro, ya sea durante todo el día o solo parte del horario, y el suministro lo realiza el cliente».

Note o solo parte del horario: the same forecourt can be staffed at midday and unattended at midnight. For unattended operation the instruction requires «uno o más terminales de pago que pueden aceptar billetes, tarjetas bancarias u otro sistema de identificación electrónica», signage stating «el tipo de combustible o carburante que se suministra y las instrucciones necesarias para el manejo del mismo», removal of the nozzle latch - «el mecanismo que fija el boquerel (trinquete) se suprimirá» - and a cap on each delivery: «se limitará el tiempo de cada suministro a tres minutos y a un volumen total de 75 litros».

RD 706/2017, ITC MI-IP 04: instalación desatendida, en autoservicio y terminales de pago (BOE)

Which of those a given terminal actually accepts is up to the site, so carry a bank card that works unattended, and expect nobody on hand to lend you an adapter. Repsol lists its own payment options as «Puedes realizar el pago en efectivo, con tu tarjeta de crédito/débito o de manera sencilla a través de Waylet».

Repsol - formas de pago del repostaje de GLP

Before you set off

Settle two things at home rather than at the pump: the adapter, in LPG adapters in Spain: which connector you need, and the route planning in Driving to Spain with an LPG car: coverage, prices, forecourts. Whether filling up here is worth it: LPG price in Spain today and how it compares with petrol.