We intend to rent a car to drive from Toledo - Cordoba-Seville-Granada. We will of course have our luggage with us. I have read about a lot of car crime in Seville, but what about stops along the way or other cities on our road trip? We want to take side trips to Consuerga and some of the white villages where you leave your car parked somewhere and visit the historical areas. Is this going to be a problem?
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
6525 posts
In all my many travels to Spain, I’ve never had an issue with anybody breaking into my car. Take some basic precautions; don’t leave anything in sight in the car (coin, map, GPS, cord, phone cord, sandwich, etc.); move anything to the trunk prior to your arrival so people won’t see what’s in the trunk, and don’t park in an isolated area. In Consuegra, the castle and windmills are just outside of town, up on an isolated hill. There will be few other vehicles up there and the only other people will most most likely be tourists. I don’t anticipate you having any issues.
Posted by
Midwest
2768 posts
Possible but unlikely. Leave your items in the trunk - not visible - and do not open the trunk in the parking lot. Leave nothing valuable visible in the car. Take anything absolutely essential with you when you leave the car, just in case. I've done it and don't really worry as long as my bags are concealed, but there can be no guarantees.
Posted by
North Italy
303 posts
We drove around Andalucía for almost six weeks last autumn and there was often stuff on view in the car because we were camping and it just didn't fit in the boot. Also we have an Italian number plate. We were careful but occasionally did leave the car in isolated places. We never had any problems nor did we see any other cars that did. On other forums it seems it's more of an issue on the Costa del sol and people suggest removing the rental car company stickers. I would think the white towns would probably be the safest (that was my impression), whereas in very touristy areas you should just be careful as the other posters suggest. Another tip was, apart from the obvious not leaving any visible luggage, if you haven't got luggage in the boot, for example when overnighting, to remove them back shelf so 'people' can see there's nothing to break in for
Posted by
Malaga, Spain
15 posts
I live in that part of the world (have done on and off almost 20 years) and to be honest, car crime is no more prevalent than anywhere else - to put that in perspective, I have also spent significant time in countries such as Thailand, Netherlands, Costa Rica, UK and others. As others have said, apply common sense. Keep stuff inside the car out of site as far as possible. Park in populated areas. Be prepared to spend a few euros to park in well lit parking spaces.