We are visiting Spain next week.
Rick's book mentions car vandalism / break-ins, in parking lots.
We are on a driving adventure through the south, park, walk the great towns & villages, no fixed reservations in hotels.
That means leaving our roller luggage in the back of the compact ford station wagon (no trunk).
Other than the standard precautions of hiding anything that implies "tourist", what has anyone else done or recommended to avoid their car getting vandalized while in Spain?
I was thinking of finding the nearest hotel and storing the bags with the concierge/front desk. Or use the lockers at train or bus stations.
Thanks for any ideas.
Posted by
OH, OH, USA
1158 posts
I guess is not better or worse than in Cincinnati.
I heard all kind of horror stories, but to be safe, yes I would leave my luggage with the hotel desk if you can.
Posted by
South Milwaukee, WI, USA
5 posts
We were in Spain last year to see my daughter who had been going to school there. She left luggage in the lockers in Madrid and had absolutely no problem. We then rented a car and spent our time in Madrid and Andalucia and mostly Nerja. We had absolutely no problem anywhere with our car and never felt we were in any danger after leaving Madrid. I would not recommend having a car until leaving Madrid if you are going there. Parking is impossible and the driving is a little wild, and my husband has driven many busy places in the world. Lets just say the lines on the streets in Madrid are just a suggestion. We stayed in Nerja and it is beautiful, and very quaint. If you get that far, do not miss the Caves of Nerja-they are incredible! We rented a beautiful two story townhouse for five nights for 400US dollars from a British couple. They vacation and retire to southern Spain like Americans do to Florida--explore that for an option. We were very happy and it's nice to day trip from there.
Posted by
Malaga, Malaga, Spain
410 posts
I live here and would take the same precautions here as anywhere else. You are probably at more risk in the bigger cities but that is the same as any country. Most of the carparks (e.g. the one we always use in Seville) will have an attendant who would certainly keep a look out for untoward behaviour.
We would never leave the GPS (non integral) visible and we make sure cameras and laptops etc are covered or hidden. We probably look like tourists much of the time and many spanish travel a lot in their own country, carrying luggage.
As for vandalising cars - it is not common in southern spain. One thing to bear in mind is that car parks, especially in the cities can have very small spaces increasing the likelihood of getting your car scraped. Many streets are very narrow, again increasing that possibility.
I think southern spain is generally very safe.