In Valle Castellana, in Abruzzo, just steps from the border with the province of Ascoli Piceno, Mayor Camillo D’Angelo had a brilliant idea: to contribute as a municipal administration to the fuel costs to keep prices down.
And so here is what is spreading especially on social media: ‘The mayor’s gasoline’.
“The mayor’s gasoline” is worth it
The only gas station in the town which has just over 800 inhabitants, spread across about 40 hamlets within the Gran Sasso Monti della Laga Park, is in fact directly managed by the Municipality.
A choice that became necessary to prevent the disappearance of the last service area in the territory used not only by residents but also by many commuters, workers who have post-earthquake construction sites, and tourists who this year rediscovered mountain holidays, otherwise having to travel dozens of kilometers elsewhere.
A choice that also helped avoid another primary activity being wiped out by the depopulation of the internal areas, which the 2016 earthquake certainly increased.
Gasoline around 1.75 euros per liter, diesel even below 1.90
The Municipality thus decided to take over the fuel station and focus on public management by selling gasoline and diesel essentially at cost price, saving drivers from 10 to 20 cents per liter compared to a normal private self-service station.
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Prices of 1.75 euros per liter for gasoline and 1.89 for diesel. A choice that is rewarding not only the users but also the municipal administration itself since in 2025 the fuel station’s revenues rose from 75,000 the previous year to 500,000 euros.
Of course, management involves additional commitment for the Municipality: from purchasing fuel, to tank monitoring, to managing receipts.
But in this phase of high prices, the service of the Municipality of Valle Castellana is also attracting drivers from Ascoli who take a mountain walk and fill up in the Teramo area. And the ‘mayor’s gasoline’ could now become an example to follow.
