We are driving from Madrid Airport to Salamanca via Segovia; and from staying in Seville to staying Malaga and would like to stop for lunch in Segovia & Rhonda and tour a little; is it safe to leave our luggage in the car? Of course not our valuables?
Thanks,
Jean
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/theft-from-vehicles-while-parked
but there are plenty more.
In my experience, cars without separate trunks are more common in European rental fleets. Usually we can barely fit our stuff under the hatch area cover, if it hasn't been lost before we got the car. (Report to desk before leaving, so you won't be charged with losing it.) And since you want the smallest car you can stand (for parking reasons), you don't have a lot of luggage space anyway.
I recall an elderly "Bogus Parking Warden" (Rick Steves term) at Italica (near Seville) in an orange vest, who took two Euros and promised to keep an eye from his cafe table ...
I have left my luggage in a car on multiple trips to Europe and never have had a problem. Not only stopping between hotels, but sometimes overnight when we just take a small bag into the hotel and leave our large bag(s) in the car. I just try to make sure nothing is visible.
We have left luggage in our car without problems, except for once. We returned to our car to find the trunk broken into and our luggage rifled. A young man saw it happening from his apartment (this was in Turin) and went down to the car and collected our stuff that had been strewn over the sidewalk. So, yes, it is usually safe to leave luggage in the car, except when it isn’t.
There have been warnings about this problem in Europe for at least 30 or 40 years, and I think Spain was the first country for which it was identified in guide books as a significant issue. Rental cars are sometimes easily identifiable as such from stickers or from their license plates.
Leaving stuff in a parked car always entails some risk. You can reduce the risk by making sure everything you will not be carrying with you is tucked away in the trunk before you arrive at your parking spot; thieves are sometimes watching, so that is not the time and place to open the trunk and put something in it. I suggest keeping your pricey electronic gear and any mission-critical medications in a day pack/tote bag/purse that you will carry with you. Jewelry too, of course, if you have anything of value with you.
I carry a lot of camera equipment and laptop as I travel. I lock it with a bicycle lock wrapped around the bags in the trunk. Of course they can steal it all in one fell swoop but I think alot of theft like that is take the stuff that's not provable to be someone else's and run, so doubt they'd take the whole bunch!
That said, I also have my sticker i.d.'s on the battery and internal sections of the electronics so it can be traced back to me if need be/found by police, etc.
Susan
Expat in Ireland
If you’re stopping to visit a place between point A and B, you don’t have much choice but to leave it in the car. In all my travels I’ve never had a problem. However, I never leave anything in sight and leave nothing out that someone might find tempting, like any coins, or even maps that indicate the car is not from there. When arriving at our hotel, everything goes into the hotel.
In general terms, everywhere in Europe, as a precaution, you do NOT leave luggage inside the car for everyone to see. If you have to, leave it in the booth/trunk. It's also true that your chances to have your car broken into are greater in populated areas (cities, popular resorts, near the main roads and motorways...).
Thanks all; we have a station wagon so will bring a large cover for our belongings...hope this is sufficient! We don't have a choice as we're driving from one area to another and will have our luggage with us!
Jean
I'd just go for as secure of parking as possible. In Segovia, I recall a large open lot near the aqueduct. I didn't feel it was unsafe. Maybe the fact that anything can be seen by lots of people would deter thieves? Rhonda had lots of smaller lots. The only places I felt there were a lot of thieves were Barcelona and Madrid, but I never tested it by leaving visible luggage in my car.
Thanks all for your great suggestions!
Jean
Please remember that just because you reserved a station wagon doesn’t mean that’s what you’ll get. Every rental car company will have those “or similar” words on the website. You shouldn’t get anything smaller than you reserved, but it may not be the exact type car pictured on the website. We’ve frequently gotten larger vehicles than we reserved at no extra cost. There have always been covers for the storage area if it wasn’t a trunk/boot.
Hello jaimeelsabio; we've rented a car in Europe for the last 7 trips and only once have they upgraded us and it was from a standard to an automatic; plus each time it was a station wagon and there have never been any covers for the storage area, I've had to bring my own!
I would love it if they'd upgrade us to a larger car with a trunk; if we pre-booked a larger vehicle it would cost a lot more...
Jean
A station wagon 'with a large cover' is ridiculously insecure. The cover announces that it is 'covering'. It will be obvious to thieves that there is gold there. Your only hope is that you don't park where active thieving rings are operating. At least carry all valuables with you. My husband and I rarely leave things in the trunk or under the hatch cover but are sometimes in transit and stop for lunch or whatever; we have messenger bags we carry on the airplane that have our computers, cameras, prescription meds and other valuables and we always carry them with us, even on a restroom stop.
I ran into someone on our last trip who lost everything: money, passports, very expensive professional cameras etc and have an acquaintance who had their car stripped of all their luggage when stopping at a beach in Italy. It doesn't happen often, but when it happens, it can be grim so if you are going to do this at least make sure valuables are secure with you so that you only have to replace clothing and such.
Ditto Janet. That's a no-no Jean. Sorry, but that's the way it is: do not leave stuff in the backseat. Period. And if you must, don't leave anything irreplaceable. Covering up is announcing there're valuables. While, as said, it's safe in many cases (esp. when far away from big cities and/or tourist resorts), it's also true that car break-ins are a problem in Europe. Also, take into account your rental will probably carry an advertisement sticker from the rental company so announcing to everybody the driver is "temporarily in the country"; thus, if a potential thief is ever caught, when it reaches court your absentia will be to his advantage. Do not need to be paranoid, just be aware.
Janet & Eric.... to upgrade to a large vehicle with a trunk is expensive and every year, we always rent a VW Touran or similar and never had a problem. We do plan on getting a large chain lock to chain our luggage together & lock it to the seats as someone suggested! Besides, rental cars have stickers so it doesn't matter if it's a car with a trunk or station wagon; they know there's probably luggage etc. in the rental.
Also, why would you think we'd ever leave anything of value in our Car...never have, never will!!!
Jean
Jean, I was just answering your question: " is it safe to leave our luggage in the car?". Short answer: "No, it's normally not if you leave it in the backseat". This doesn't mean something has to happen, but car break-ins are far more common here than in the US.
I guess I should have rephrased my question to say; how safe is it to leave luggage in your car in Spain/Portugal; my replies to replies included I have rented station wagons all over Europe and never had a problem, just wondered about these countries! Also said I never left valuables in car but people reply telling me not to do this over & over...
With our budget, we have no choice but to rent this type of vehicle
This is clear as mud. Enric gave you an answer to your yes/no question: NO. So now you want people to tell you the how safe, or the degree of safety and security for your belongings.
I don't think it's possible to give you an answer, except what people know, and that doesn't fit with your experience in other countries and what you have to do. So I'm not sure why you are asking.
As I never had warnings or any incident in many other European Countries & was warned about these two and responses were telling me what not to leave in vehicles which was obvious as I stated in earlier post. Also telling me not to rent a station wagon which we always do because of cost of larger vehicle!
I was just asking specially how prevalent it was in these two countries!
This link says there's a theft from a vehicle in Spain every 3 minutes.
There's really not much to say. What you're doing is risky, but the odds that something will actually happen to you are pretty small, nonetheless.
Risky or not, we haven't a choice!
You apparently want reassurance. Our reassurance doesn't protect your stuff. A tourist doesn't know if there is a gang of car thieves at this particular rest stop, or village. If you get robbed the locals will all shrug and say 'well everyone knows you can't leave luggage in a car in X.' People have wallets in pockets on the Paris metro and don't necessarily have them stolen either; but one is a fool to do so as it is such a frequent occurrence. If you 'don't have a choice', then why ask? Mitigate the damage with insurance and not leaving valuables and hope for the best. Most of the time you will be okay and sometimes you won't be. We have lucked out so far ourselves but try to have as few potential occasions for theft as possible by having base and not touring with luggage. We also would never tour in a station wagon and are not that happy that most European rentals are hatchbacks.
VW Touran--love that kind of car, somewhat between a Golf and a minivan, unicoque in French. Looking on line, it does have a cover to pull over the trunk area. There's no cover with the second row of seats down, just the third row and trunk. It comes in a 7-seat version, too.
If you have no choice regardless of any advice, why ask?
If you have no choice but to leave luggage in the car, then you need to be philosophical about it. If you lose stuff, deal with it and carry on and enjoy your trip. If you don’t lose anything, carry on and enjoy your trip.
All I wanted to know was it true about the break-in's in Spain & Portugal.... other questions came up along the way! We're seasoned travellers & know the risks.... just asking!!!
Years ago on my first road trip in southern Spain, I parked in Seville at a lot with a guard in the town center. Clothing but not valuables were inside the sedan trunk, not a hatchback, fully covered. I followed all the advice, including not opening the trunk after parking. The sign said pay on departure, so off I went. When I returned, the trunk had been pried open and things were missing. The guard shrugged, and walked off. I filed a police report and contacted the rental company.
Later on that night at the hotel where I had to stay while the car rental company was sorting out a replacement, a local gentleman told me what had gone wrong. The guard had expected his tip in advance to pay attention to my car, and I had no idea of this.
After that, I always parked at a lot with a guard, and I always asked his name, inquired if he was going to be there for the length of time I was planning to stay ...and I tipped him, letting him know I'd also be looking for him when I returned. Following the local knowledge, the rest of my trip was incident free. Perhaps things have changed in southern Spain, but I just wanted to share.
Good to know Barbara, thanks...
Jean
