GPS in Spain

Google maps works well!

I’ve used Garmin in the past. But since 2013 I’ve only used Google Maps and/or Waze on my smartphone. But I take along a phone mount. Most cars you rent in Europe have Bluetooth so your spoken directions come through the vehicle’s Audi system. And a USB cord to keep it charged.

We normally have a Garmin and downloaded Google maps on our phone and tablet for offline use. However, the Garmin is really just for backup. The last couple trips we’ve used Google maps almost exclusively. Last May, our Madrid rental was a Spanish made Seat and it only had a USB C port so our cables wouldn’t work. You may want to get a USB 2 to USB C connector just in case since continuously using the phone will use up the battery quickly.

We have T-mobile and get free 2G data overseas. It is slow but works if only using maps to get around. One good thing about Spain is the roads are very well marked and once away from any city traffic is light. A navigation system is really only needed to get into and out of a city. As a word of caution, just like using any GPS, sometimes it may try and take you on a non-existent road or across a pedestrian only bridge.

For GPX tracks for walking that you can access on your phone, take a look at https://www.wikiloc.com. It has over 14 million trails in Spain uploaded by users. Many have photos and accompanying descriptions full of background information. It's a great resource.

We head to the Iberian Peninsula in a couple of months, and anticipate we'll be fine using Google Maps and Waze. We've had success on trips in Ireland, Scotland, Italy and France with both apps on Android phones connected to TMobile.

We've rented cars many times in Spain and France and never checked the box to add GPS. Every car has had the GPS as standard equipment. It can be a bit challenging to use at times so check it out before you leave the rental area. We often have to change the language to English and on some you have to put in the city before the street address. There are often several cities with the same or similar name in a country so be sure you have full details of your destination.

The funniest challenge in using the GPS on our last trip around Provence and southern France was the voice telling me to "go left at the roundabout, third (or whatever) exit". Maybe in places like England I'd go left at the roundabout but not in France! Maybe there is a different setting for different countries??? I had simply set the language to English. Anyway the on-screen view showed me which exit to take on the roundabout so that helped. And GPS isn't always the perfect navigator so be prepared to have some additional knowledge of your destination.

When I rented a car to visit the Costa Brava, I used my iPhone Maps app, with Google maps downloaded maps as a backup. I had T-Mobile as my data provider, which allows for international use at no additional cost to my regular plan, but I did upgrade for $50 for the 5G speed. No problems at all. I brought an iPhone holder that attaches to the car's air vent and plugged the phone into the 12 volt port. Worked just fine. Never needed the google maps offline backup.
I used the iPhone for walking directions as well.

We have strictly relied on google maps and our iPhones for navigating our rental car through Andalusia, mainland Portugal and Madeira. Uploading maps for offline use works fine. Coupled with our esim data plan this approach does not require a gps. Note that we have also used the offline maps and iPhone for hiking and walking directions without internet or cell coverage. iPhone internal gps works fine.

https://www.viamichelin.com

Plot your journey using this map.