The Spanish government is planning to levy a new special tax on the profits made by utilities on rising electricity prices, Deputy Prime Minister and Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz said on Thursday.

"We have clear proposals like an extraordinary tax on large electric utilities," she said in an interview on local radio station RNE.

Prices of power and gas in Spain have contributed to pushing the 12-month inflation rate to a three-decade high and boosted the bottom lines of power utilities such as Ibedrola, Endesa and Naturgy.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Alex Richardson)