First time renting a car in Europe

With at least one trip to Europe yearly for over 20 yrs, we have always used AutoEurope for all of our car rentals, never have had any problems. They will stand behind you if there are any problems.

Auto Europe is a consolidator that represents many of the larger car rental agencies and offers discounts on their rental rates. Some rentals will include partial insurance coverage. You will likely need to add on bodily injury liability and theft coverage for the car., so now is the time to see if you have coverage through your credit cards or travel insurance. By Spanish law, each driver of the vehicle will need to have an International Driver’s Permit which you can get at any American Automobile Assn. office.
www.AutoEurope.com

Also be aware there will be a one way drop off fee for picking the car up in one location and dropping off in another. I’ve rarely found the drop off fees to be very onerous versus the burden of backtracking to simply drop the car off.

Picking up and dropping off the car at an Airport location will allow much easier navigation away from a city versus picking it up at a rail office or downtown location and navigating your way out of a City in traffic.

Try to avoid visible luggage in mid-day attraction-parking, and favor lots with an elderly "bogus parking warden" (in a ragged fluorescent vest ...) to whom you give a few Euros. Photo four sides of the car at pickup and return.

Besides what others mentioned, that region of Spain is relatively easy to drive in. You likely will not run into tolls, unless you are planning on going to Malaga. Not heard much on speed cameras or restricted zones in that area, but look into it. It would be best if you have phone service and data, even if just for Google Maps, but in the worst case to have some sort of communication on the road.

Can you drive a stick? for a small car, that is what will be available, you usually have to go up a few classes to get an automatic, or at least pay more.

On our last trip we used Auto Europe with no issues. It is a good idea to take photos of all sides of the car upon pickup and drop off, just in case there is a problem. We drove that route on our trip to Spain, and there are lots of speed cameras with frequent speed limit changes within a very short distance. Pay close attention and do not exceed them. Otherwise on your return home, you most likely will receive a letter from the Spanish with a hefty fine. The rental company will also send you an invoice for "providing the Spanish authorities" with your information.

If you want to look at individual companies, rather than a consolidator like AutoEurope or DiscoverCars, besides the international biggies like Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, etc., look at Europcar and Sixt. We’ve gotten better deals going directly with the company.

Do you have a credit card that offers insurance coverage on car rentals? Check - that could save you a bunch, not having to take the insurance the rental company sells.

Check the terms of your credit card insurance carefully for rental cars. Some do not provide coverage outside of the US and Canada.

Apart from the road signs, also make sure you know the rules of the road.

The last few times to Spain we rented through Costco and the company was Enterprise. I’ve had no issues and we pick up and drop off in Madrid. Since you’ll be dropping the vehicle in a different city, you can do a dummy booking to find out what the fee is. If you need an automatic, Costco doesn’t normally offer them.

All the important things have been covered. Once away from the cities traffic will be light. Stay at or below the speed limit to avoid getting a ticket. There are plenty of speed cameras, especially when entering or leaving towns. A few kilometers over the limit will get you a ticket. I use Google maps and bookmark parking lots in the towns I plan on visiting.

Spain’s roads are generally in good repair and well marked. A navigation system works well to get out of a city or town, otherwise you probably won’t need it except to get to really obscure locations. USB ports to plug your phone into vary. On my last two Spain trips I had the same model vehicle; a Seat Arona. One time it only had USB-C ports, so my USB-2 cable was useless, while the next year the vehicle had both USB-2 and USB-C ports.

Per @allan's comment about insurance provided by the credit card you use to book and PAY for the rental, you should also familiarize yourself with your current personal car insurance policy to find out what/if they offer in regards to coverage of a rental. If they offer it as part of your policy or if they offer it as a low cost addition to your policy, it is always good to know it AHEAD of time. For both your CC and your car insurance, it is wise to print out the specific policy info (or store electronically) so you can reference it and bring with you on the trip. It may include a number to call or steps to take, but you want to be sure you are covered and by whom.

In the past, we've used AutoEurope many times and I don't think there has ever been a hiccup.

For my first trip (to the UK), I went and got an international permit from AAA, but found that to never have been something that any of the rental agents asked for. If I did present a license (scratching my head if I have), it would have been my US state license if any at all. In recent months, I have seen more and more of discussion of the international permit being important, but I don't know if that remains just some relic of times past (pre-1990s?) or if it is oddly coming back for unknown reasons.

Also, we almost always get a pretty small car and it has almost always been a manual. That's fine as I've driven manuals since I got my first car and so does my wife, but for some, that's a rude awakening. Small cars are great for a multitude of reasons - gas mileage, parking, and narrow roads to name a few. And, yes, store any bags/luggage in the trunk or under the luggage cover in a hatchback - in Europe, Asia, Africa, S. America or the US.

but I don't know if that remains just some relic of times past
(pre-1990s?) or if it is oddly coming back for unknown reasons.

An IDP is a translation of your drivers license. It wouldn't be necessary in the UK as it's an english speaking country(s). It is the law to have one in many other countries including multiple US States. It's not having one to show the rental car agent that should be the focus of an IDP, it's having one of the police ask. Also, if your in an accident and can't provide one to the police your insurance may not be valid as your are technically driving illegally. I wouldn't put it past an insurance company to jump on that as a reason not to pay.

An international Driver’s Permit ( IDP) for foreigners driving a car is REQUIRED BY LAW IN SPAIN and has been since 2008. It’s not the car rental agencies that care about it— it’s the police 👮. If you should be pulled over by the police for any reason and cannot produce the IDP, you can find yourself subject to a fine up to €500. You also could find your itinerary to be seriously disrupted. Your Driver’s License from home is also required to be carried with you while driving in Spain as it authenticates the information on the IDP.

If you are in an accident without an IDP and your regular driver’s license from home, you are not driving legally in Spain. And this means any auto insurance coverage you thought you had will be invalid and you can be completely exposed personally for any property damage and bodily injuries caused by the accident.

Last year there was a news story about an American in this situation who didn’t get an IDP before renting a car in Spain. He had a car accident and—when he could not show the police the required IDP—he was taken away to a police station and the rental car was towed.

A nightmare scenario for anyone.

International Driver’s Permits cost about $20 from your local American Automobile Association office.

Europecar, Hertz
What is the itinerary?

I think the vote is in, and adding a IDP to the list is on it!

Relatively simple and if it saves folks' the peace of mind (and plays well within the rules), AAA seems the path to follow in the US.

So, pre-trip sort out your insurance needs and your IDP, and any special car need (automatic trans?). Then, on arrival, make sure you do the normal "inspection" of the vehicle with PHOTOs and make sure you understand the fueling requirements (diesel vs gas) and also if there are any toll roads you might encounter (and fees tied to that). I think Spain is better than other countries (the US, France, and Switzerland come to mind), so you're probably fine with not having tolls. On return, also do the post-trip inspection with photos again.

Keep your luggage and valuables concealed in the trunk or similar, and also pay attention to where you park and try to make sure you know the parking rules. I remember walking up a side street in Lisbon last year and seeing TWO cars "booted" for clearly breaking a non-resident parking rule. That would stink getting sorted out after a day of sightseeing.

If you rent one with a standard transmission, be sure you understand the gear sequence, especially reverse. On a big trip 50 years ago, my dad rented in 4 different countries and each car had a different reverse.

We always get full insurance from the rental car agency (it's not that expensive and gives us peace of mind). Park where it's easy - even if that means a walk away from your final destination. Go slowly and yield to others. Have a dedicated "navigator" in the passenger seat - very helpful for watching for the correct roundabout exit! Plan carefully for gas - stations are not nearly as plentiful/convenient as those in the US. And remember that just because you have a car doesn't mean that you have to use it all the time - still take public transit where it's more convenient!

Make sure the name on your car reservation exactly matches your drivers license.

Stephen's post about reverse gear made me smile. I had that issue when I picked up a car (Europcar) in Florence just last year. After I pulled out forward to leave the parking lot, I remembered I needed something from the rental office. When I went back to the car, I needed to reverse out and spent 5 frustrating minutes being unable to get into reverse. Then I went back to the office and someone came out and showed me the magic trick, which involving pressing down on the gear shift lever.

I usually start by going to Autoeurope.com and then checking the car rental sites for comparison. You need to read the fine print, though. Autoeurope may not include certain additional fees and I've never seen them include drop-off fees. Insurance may or may not be included in any quote - in Spain it's a good idea to have full coverage. Since you're going from Sevilla to Granada, I am guessing you want to see some of the white villages (pueblos blancos) where some streets are very narrow and it's easy to dent a car or to be dented. I rented twice in Spain and didn't have an additional charge for dropping at a different location. In recent years I haven't seen a separate drop-off fee. Instead there's a different rate if you drop-off in a different place. In Portugal 5 years ago it was about $100, even if picking up at a city location and returning at that city's airport. It was similar last year in Italy. Both times I used Europcar. I always get the smallest 4-door car I can. It somehow seems more convenient that a 2-door because I'm always tossing stuff in the back (though I never leave anything visible in the car when it's parked). If you need an automatic transmission, you will end up with a medium-sized car, standard transmission is the norm most of the time. In that case, pick up the car from a major location - the train station. The smaller city locations will have fewer cars available and may not have an automatic even though that's what you reserved.

Be sure to have GPS - not needed for highways but definitely useful getting in and out of the big cities. I have used a Garmin with European maps and Google maps. Waze is excellent but eats up data. Car charging cables for phones is really helpful. I also bring a small cellphone magnetic mount that clips on to the air vent.

Maybe this goes without saying, but remember that Spain uses the metric system. Matching the number on your speedometer to the speed limit here you are would seem simple enough, but if you’re used to miles per hour, then going 50 kilometers per hour in a residential area might seem fast at first (except it’s just approx. 30 MPH), and doing 90 or even 120 on a highway may seem extreme (but that’s just about 55 and 70 MPH).

Gas, too, might warrant an additional moment of thought. Gas prices will be in Euros per Liter, so multiply the price by 4 times to approximate the cost in dollars per gallon. And even a small car’s tank will take a lot of liters to fill.