Fast & Furious: Spain Edition! (Or: Renting and Driving a car in Spain)
Renting a Car and Basic Driving Rules, Tips and Signs
My fabulous mini van in Malaga from Enterprise rent a car (off airport) I drove for 35 days. I must admit that I fell in love with this little car that looked more like it should be in Jurassic Park being chased by a T-rex!
Trains ( https://www.raileurope.com/train-tickets/) and buses (www.renfe.com ) are so convenient and tickets very inexpensive that most of the time you don't need a car, especially in northern Spain.
But in southern Spain, it's much more handy to have a car to sightsee, grocery shop and use for fun things like going to four different Saturday markets in one day!
I'm one of those crazy Americans that loves to have a car and go wherever and whenever I want. I also don't have to worry about what I buy. If I get five bags of groceries at SuperSol or home products at Carrefour, I don't have to think about how to get it back to my apartment.
The issue with driving in Spain? They door ding you constantly! I'm not sure why this is, but Mercedes, BMW and Nissans are all fair game in parking lots and garages. If you live there, it's really not a big deal I assume, but if you are renting a car it could cost you quite a bit of money. Buy the extra insurance. Do not go for the extra insurance that Expedia offers or feel that your insurance company will cover the accident costs. You will have to pay up front. All of it. If you don't pay for any damages and try to leave the country, they will contact the police and your passport will be flagged. Regarding Expedia; they offer insurance, for example, $132 for 10 days for misc issues and claim it covers door dings, minor accidents and such. But the fine print does not explain that you will have to pay up front for the damages, just like in the US, for the repairs and then try and claim upon your return which can take months. Or you may never recoup. If you have international coverage on your own insurance, this same issue applies. You will have to pay up front and then get reimbursed. If you are on a budget, like many of us, you don't have the money to pay for this expense and even if you put it on your credit card, 15% interest could be excruciating and a financial nightmare.
My suggestion is to spend the extra money up front, as it's not very much and you can drive anywhere and not worry. I drove an SUV Nissan Quansai (large by Spain standards) into Malaga, Estepona old town and street parking in Marbella. So if someone scraped the car, scratched it, rammed it, bumped it, banged it, rear-ended it or threw a rock on it; I could drop it off and walk away. Even if it looked like a stunt car from a Will Smith movie when he told the guy he would need to get a different car because "he was gonna f&*^ this one up!" I even asked the car rental rep if I could drive the car into a wall at the mall and smash it and walk away without charge. After looking at me to see if I was serious or to try and detect alcohol or medication, he paused and finally said "yes". BTW, I am extremely careful with rental cars and try to , but parking garages in Spain are very similar to bumper car tracks at Disneyland!)
As for car rental companies, there are several good ones. Make sure to not just look at "Intermediate Car", but the types of cars they offer along with size of the trunk, how many passengers, automatic or manual (most companies are manual and charge up to 10euros for an automatic), gas fees, early or late rental fees, insurance costs, roadside assistance, 24hour emergency number and GPS services.
(We were in Costa Rica and the car died and we were so excited to sit around for one whole day waiting for a new car to be delivered! (Sarcastic statement!) A cheap rental may save you money up front but may cost you more time, lost vacation and irritation later! Not to mention towing costs if not included as you sit in the middle of no where with no cell service, bathrooms, food or your sanity.
P.S. Learn to drive a manual if you don't already! Everyone should know how because in many places in the world, automatics do not exist or the extra cost is prohibitive. That could be an additional charge and the fee based on the size and brand of car. In Dubrovnik when you rent a car, it's assumed that it will be a manual. Manual cars are a premium and can change your daily cost to triple. (Example: We chose a manual in one city at $30 a day. Just out of curiosity we asked what the automatic price would be. We were shocked to find that it was $84! They only had two automatics and were the only company that even offered this option so they could charge what they wanted. So again, learn to drive a manual car!!
Regarding the size, this is where smaller is better, more convenient and will make you much happier! Parking is a premium commodity in some cities and trying to park an SUV crossover will cause an aneurysm! (Side note: when parking in underground parking garages in places like Old Town Malaga or Madrid or Barcelona, keep your parking ticket extremely safe and make sure you have their phone number and address on the ticket. Also take photos or write down the cross streets and put the address into your google maps. I went shopping in Malaga and after several hours of having a blast shopping, I realized that I had no idea where my car was! I had to hire a cab to get back and was so extremely embarrassed when the cab drove up to the valet.
Flying into Malaga is extremely easy and baggage area and car rentals are very easy to get to, although during high season plan on long lines (queues). I prefer Europecar, Enterprise, Hertz and Dollar as they have high standards for car maintenance. They also don't slap bumper stickers that announce you are driving a rental to petty thieves in parking lots. Just peel it off if you rent one.
Driving Sign Examples:
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| WATCH YOUR SPEED. POSSIBLE SPEED CAMERAS IN USE. (TICKETS CAN ADD UP QUICKLY IF YOU ARE UNAWARE YOU RECEIVED ONE AND YOU MAY INCUR EXTRA FEES AND LATE FEES IF YOU DON'T FIND OUT UNTIL THE DAY YOU RETURN YOUR CAR. |
End of Freeway
Check your headlights. Important at night and going thru tunnels.
The following sight has fabulous and detailed information on traffic and street signs along with more tips and hints. If you are planning on driving around Spain, or anywhere in Europe for that matter, then please take a few moments to look up this basic, yet oh so important information.
http://alicante.vacations/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/road-signs-spain.jp
How to use the roundabout in Spain:
This website (link) is great because it gives detailed information on how to get around a roundabout. Whereas I would tell you from my experience: the people on your left have the right of way and the people on on your right will take your right away and that you need to drive like the locals by hauling ass at your first chance while screaming "May the odds be ever in our favor!!!!"
http://revista.dgt.es/es/multimedia/infografia-animada/2016/0519-Glorietas-animadas.shtml#.Wa-2ZNOGPOS
Important Driving Tip:
Know where your hazard button is in your car and be prepared to use it. When traffic slows down unexpectedly during evening traffic, car accident ahead, during heavy rains and coming into a very reduced speed area to give you an idea. It's a fabulous way to let the cars behind you and the cars after them (as they turn on hazards too) to let everyone know that traffic is slowing rapidly and get attention fully onto road conditions. Use it whenever you feel that traffic may change and to give the driver behind you a heads up. I rarely saw accidents during my time there because of this. I wish the states would adopt this habit. How many accidents could and would be prevented?
Freeway driving:
Except in high volume areas, the rule of Spanish driving on freeways is the left lane is for passing only. Do not take it as a personal affront if someone comes up fast behind you and flashes their lights, tailgates or honks. Just move to your right as soon as possible. No one stares at you while passing and no one flips another person off (not sure if that is even a thing in Spain?!) as they pass by. Just show respect and either speed up or move over. The later is much better because Fast and Furious behind you WILL be faster than you. You will also see that when they have passed the slower cars, they too will move back into the right lane. No road rage. How about that???
Toll roads:
I think that only the tourists us these. I know I did the first 10 days! It's an expensive lesson when you realize that the alternate route is the same amount of time or maybe a 10 minute savings. The toll out of Malaga to Marbella is 7.50euros and the toll from Marbella to Estepona and beyond is five euros on AP7 versus free on A7. Use your GPS or remember that just past Benelmedena you will see signs advising Marbella via toll or Marbella via A7. Take this (furthest lane in on the right off of AP7 and then after slight right, keep in left lane. This will follow the sea! If after approx 10 minutes driving you will see the Mediterranean on your left. It's a beautiful drive and is worth every extra minute! The toll road cuts thru the mountains. Beautiful also, but r/t in US is over $22 from Estepona. Malaga airport to Estepona is approximately a one hour drive and beautiful. Follow the signs to Algecerius~Cadiz.
Please get ready to really pay attention and leave the looking around to your passengers. You will come upon numerous roundabouts (see above) and this sign. It means pedestrian crossing and in most cases they will just start crossing. You MUST be mindful! Women, men, children will all of a sudden appear in front of you. They do not look from left to right (or it's a quick glance) and start walking across the road. More so when the beach is the reward on the other side! Driving thru Estepona city, for example, there are at least 20 that I can remember off hand. It's tempting to look around these city streets because they are absolutely gorgeous and the drive along the sea is stunning. Just remember that you are hopefully on vacation and relaxing and can stop in one of the many parking garages and go wander and enjoy.
Parking Safety and valuables (Petty theft):
Please do not leave luggage, bags, valuables, electronics or basically anything but what came with the car in your car. Before you leave the airport, hotel or apartment, put your luggage in the trunk. Don't think that moving items to the trunk in the parking garage or out in the open will keep this from happening. This just shows the thieves where they need to look after they break the windows. At hotels do not think that their private parking is safe. Take your luggage and personal items in with you. If you have a lot of luggage and don't want to drag up flights of stairs or cram into small elevators, ask the reception to store for you in locked luggage/storage closets.
Feel free to send me your tips and hints!!
Safe Driving!!
Cheers,
Karen
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