HUELVA, Spain, March 25 (Xinhua) -- At a gas station near the southern Spanish city of Huelva, close to the Portuguese border, cars pull in one after another on the weekend under the midday sun. Among them are many vehicles with Portuguese license plates.
Paulo Costa has driven more than 50 km from Portugal's Algarve region to refuel. "Diesel is about 0.3 euros (0.35 U.S. dollars) cheaper per liter here," he said. "And for gas cylinders, the difference is even bigger."
For residents along the Iberian border, such trips are becoming increasingly common - reflecting how rising energy prices are beginning to shape everyday choices.
The escalating conflict in the Middle East has sent shockwaves through global oil markets. In Portugal, nearly 6,000 km away from the core of the conflict, where energy imports account for a significant share of supply, these effects are being felt in daily life.
"My income hasn't changed, but my expenses keep rising," said Tiago Santos, a Brazilian working in Lisbon.
Standing at a supermarket checkout, he described how higher fuel costs are filtering through the economy.
"When fuel prices go up, transport becomes more expensive, and then food and electricity follow. In the end, it's ordinary families who pay."
Economists have described the situation as a classic supply shock.
"When energy prices rise and supply tightens, the impact spreads across the entire economy," said economist Oscar Afonso, noting that effects can extend "from oil shipments in the Gulf to supermarket shelves in Portugal."
Rodrigo Costa, head of Portugal's national energy grid operator REN, warned that rising fuel prices will inevitably push up electricity and gas costs. If tensions escalate further, he said, supply chains could face significant disruption.
The pressure is already visible across many sectors.
At Silampos, a Portuguese export-oriented manufacturer, CEO Anibal Campos said around 500,000 euros (579,072 dollars) worth of goods are currently delayed in ports in Dubai and Saudi Arabia due to logistical disruptions.
Meanwhile, rising fuel costs are hitting agriculture even harder.
Carlos Mendes, a farmer in southern Portugal, said diesel prices have surged from about 1 euro (1.16 dollars) per liter to 1.5 euros (1.74 dollars) in less than a month.
"That's a 50 percent increase in under 30 days," he said. "All our operations depend on fuel."
Fertilizer and agricultural chemical prices are also rising, he added, increasing concerns that production costs will eventually be passed on to consumers.
In response, the Portuguese government has introduced a series of measures, including repeated cuts to fuel taxes and a mechanism allowing temporary caps on electricity prices if costs surge beyond certain thresholds.
However, differences in policy approaches between Portugal and Spain are contributing to price gaps that are influencing consumer behavior.
Spain has rolled out a broader support package worth around 5 billion euros to cushion the impact of rising energy costs. Yet Spanish public broadcaster RTVE reported that even relatively small fuel price differences can prompt drivers in border regions to cross into neighboring countries to buy cheaper gas.
Meanwhile, Portugal's central bank and industry groups have already revised down growth forecasts for 2026, citing geopolitical uncertainty and rising energy costs.
Economists also warn that if energy-driven inflation persists, it could delay interest rate cuts in the eurozone, prolonging financial pressure on households - particularly in Portugal, where many mortgages are tied to variable rates.
Therefore, what began as a distant geopolitical tension is gradually filtering into daily decisions - how much to spend, what to buy, and increasingly, where to refuel.
For drivers like Costa, the calculation is straightforward. "When there's a difference," he said, "people will move." ■