Driving in Spain

[abreakplease]

I am driving 90km south from Valencia on Saturday afternoon for a few days by the coast. Picking up car (automatic) at the airport. I haven't driven on the continent before as was ex's holiday job - but up to me now! Any tips or knowledge of the roads around Valencia Airport? Apart from keep right!

Its easy. Far less traffic than the UK. Biggest tip, take your time, roundabouts are trickier and mopeds come inside and outside of you everywhere. Indicators are not widely used !

Use Waze. Really helpful. And do ensure you have excess cover from Insurance4carhire or similar. Take photos or video the car on pick up. All car hire companies are awful imho. Enjoy!

You'll be fine! One thing I did notice in Spain (though north) was that it doesn't seem to be a convention to try and pull over to let people on to the motorway equivalents. I don't know if it was just me but it never seemed to happen! But I just held my breath, looked out loads and went for it. Other than that it was a breeze, and I'm generally nervous about these things. Just use mirrors loads and indicate even if others are not!

Yes. It's not the thing .. the acceleration lane isn't that on Spanish roads , it's a give way !
Also it's the law to have lights on in every tunnel

Wouldn't say easy! It’s true there’s less traffic on motorways. In Spain cars with dents and scratches are regarded as badges of honour! You’d think indicators hadn’t been invented! We used to see drivers not used to driving on the continent, going round roundabouts the wrong way , very impatient drivers cutting others up. Give way signs ignored etc. Think of U.K. with bells on!

I live in Spain. I have never seen anyone go round a roundabout the wrong way. Ever! There is less congestion and as long as you take your time it's far easier to drive than the UK
I get super stressed in the UK as nothing moves!

Yes, I didn't see any totally crazy driving. The only thing that caused me any issue whatsoever was the one I mentioned above, which I now see I should have expected!

Italy...now that's a totally different ballgame....

Not Valencia specially but we were further south recently and honestly it’s so much easier. A fraction of the greater Manchester traffic we’re used to. And that includes some busy cities.

Take extra note of the speed limit signs, on some roads they seem to change frequently. I got caught out last time and received a speeding fine

I don't know if it's still relevant, but I used to remove the stickers that identified the car as a rental.
(a) thieves targeted them
(b) G.C. would watch for a minor infringement that locals would not get stopped for, & levy a fine.

And don't rely on the petrol gauge when returning the car ; running out of fuel on the way back to the airport in an attempt to save money can be a false economy.

I don't instinctively know my right from my left, so I find it easier simply to remember that the driver is always next to the centre line on the road, then not to overthink it.

Leaving car parks is when I find I'm most likely to drive on the wrong side - so I make a conscious effort to be more careful there.

Have a lovely time!

Check the fuel policy of the hire car company before you set off. Some have return full policy but a lot are return empty. I think return empty is a bit of a scam really because nobody except my husband is going to risk running out of fuel on the way back to the airport so they end up getting more back than the car had in it when you collected it.
So just make sure you don't put too much fuel in towards the end of your trip! Either way it is worth identifying a petrol station fairly near the airport as depending on your company's policy you are likely to need to fill up quite soon after you get the car or just before you return it.
Definitely get the extra insurance cover as the excesses on the basic policies are often enormous.
Also it's a legal requirement to have a hi vis jacket and warning triangle in the car in Spain. Obviously the hire company should provide them, you don't need to take your own, but do check they're there. We got stopped by the police once and they did go through the boot and check. It used to be the law that if you wear glasses you had to have a spare pair in the car but I think they've changed it now. We still always take spares when we are going to be driving abroad though as it just seems a sensible precaution.
Be extra careful about driving on the right after you've stopped for a rest, later on in your trip when you're feeling more confident and on small roads where there's no traffic around to give you a visual reminder - in my experience those are the times when you're most likely to forget.

I lived there for years- I saw plenty! Mind you - they could have been British!

Thanks all, I think the rental agreement said same to same re fuel. Not helpful either, having to judge that!

I think the road I am driving is a toll road. anyone know how they work?

my husband is Spanish so we spend a fair bit of time in Spain. We both drive there and it’s fine. Just take your time to get used to it. Always get a rental car from the airport, never had any problems with them being stolen or damaged. In 10 years we have been stopped by the Garida Civil once, that was because we had been to Ikea and had a large box going through from the back to the front, which is not legal there. They were nice though, just told us don’t do it again and on your way. Toll roads are really easy, just press a button at the first one, it will print out a card which you take. When you get to the next one put the card in the slot and it will tell you how much to pay, we always just use our English bank cards to pay contactless. The main thing I notice is most Spanish drivers do like to put their foot down, we always joke they are crazy drivers there, always over take you, can’t wait 2 minutes, we just let them get on with it and carry on with our own business, never had any problems. Another thing to watch is that they do put a lot of pedestrian crossings on junctions over there so take care when turning into a junction in towns and villages. My husband learnt to drive and passed his test in England, he moved here at quite a young age, so when he started to drive in Spain he didn’t have a clue at first either. You soon pick it up, just take your time and don’t rush. Have a lovely holiday

The roads are fine in that area. There are some lovely places along that coastline. I especially like the beach just south of Oliva. Oliva itself is a lovely Spanish town and has an excellent market on a Friday morning.

Full to empty is more of a con because it means you pay for fuel whether you use it or not as not everyone drives hundreds of miles on holiday. So they can sometimes sell the same fuel to multiple customers.

I read something about the warning triangles no longer being required as people had been killed putting them out.

But the OP should investigate Spanish road rules. DP got pulled over by a routine traffic stop and fined 40 euro because we had a bike rack but no warning sign that was required.

On road positioning, make sure you account for the right side of the car when overtaking, you're not used to it being there so don't instinctively move over enough.

I can't drive LHD cars because my brain does weird things with left and right so my job when DP is driving is to make sure he's not too close to the edge of the road and anything else on the right.

Always take a photos of where you’ve parked your car along with a photo of the car’s number plate. We’ve driven south of Valencia and it was all good. Motorways are so much quieter than the UK.

Brilliant advice thanks so much. Adding 'don't overtake at all' to the list now!

I hadn't driven on the other side of the road in over 20 years - my ex husband always did so - but I got over myself and did so in Northern Spain a few months ago. Agree that the roads seem to be quite free flowing and uncongested, neither did I feel the kind of pressure from other drivers that I remember from France. If you do get beeped at for hesitating or going too slowly, who cares really? One thing that caught me was pulling in to park on the street - I misjudged the distance from the kerb and scraped my wheel rims. Amazingly, the car hire people were OK about it and I didn't have to pay. I WAS nervous and not sure that I ever fully relaxed into it but I did it and that's the important thing. I rented an automatic which really helped as didn't have to worry about gear changes using the 'wrong' hand. Good luck!

The mention of photos reminds me that my DH takes date stamped photos of hire cars if they're not pristine when he picks them up so he has evidence of any pre existing damage. Dents etc should be noted on the pre delivery check list so check that they are, but we've still had arguments when returning cars on occasion. (Not exclusive to Spain,just car hire companies in general!)

you can only exit roundabouts in the closest lane to the exit- even if the road has two lanes

Oh and don’t hang around parked up by an airport. I just went to pay my car tax at the suma office and found a €60 fine on my tax account from the Garda civil 🫣

You won't see anyone going round a roundabout "the wrong way", as in clockwise (the right way is of course anti-clockwise as you're driving on the right), unless you meet some particularly clueless UK tourists.

However, Spanish people drive in a different way on roundabouts. They tend to just sit in the outside lane the whole time even if they are going three-quarters of the way round (i.e., turning left). If you are going left and drive like you would in the UK (i.e., get into the inside lane, then when you pass the second exit you signal and move back into the outside lane, ready to exit) you may find that lane occupied. If you are going straight on at the roundabout (second exit, normally), then as you cross from the inner lane to the exit you may find yourself getting "T-boned" from the right by someone orbiting in the outside lane.

The actual Spanish driving law lays down the same rules for roundabouts as everywhere else (none of this is a problem in France or Germany!), but people drive this way and many of them are taught that this is the "safest" way. It might well be, except for all these northern Europeans who insist on driving their way! So don't feel the need to adjust your driving style on a roundabout, but don't get too upset when someone appears on your right as you are trying to leave it!