Parking tickets in Spain

Ya !!! Pay the tickets or take your chances and not pay the tickets. I am sure they will trace it to Hertz and they will pay it and charge you or just pass it along to you. You can call the tickets abusive but that doesn't make them so. It is your responsibility to find a legal parking space.

What's been reported here is that, most (but not all) of the time, the credit card company does not actually pay the fine itself, but they do charge your credit card (whether you've later canceled it or not) for the "administrative fee" when the authorities contact the credit card company to get your address so they (the authorities) can mail you the actual charge for the violation itself.

However, this may not be what happens in Spain, we get this kind of question mostly about tickets issued in Italy and particularly Florence.

Canceling the credit card probably won't work. People have reported (on this forum) trying that and getting charged anyway, apparently they're authorized, per the rental contract, to charge you for any cost that was incurred during the rental and while the credit card was valid.

Travelers have reported some limited success contacting the credit card company, if there is a legitimate basis for a dispute. But in your case, the credit card company may not feel they have a factual basis to deny the charge from Hertz, when Hertz charges you the administrative fee to disclose your address to the Spanish authorities.

If you feel the fines were levied in error and want to challenge them, you should consider consulting an attorney in Madrid. Otherwise, pay the tickets, chalk it up to a learning experience, and move on. You should feel lucky that your car wasn't towed and impounded...that would have added a couple hundred dollars to your bill. This underscores the need to really understand and adhere to all of the parking ordinances before you park your car anywhere in Europe (or anywhere in the U.S. for that matter). Even in downtown Houston, there are tow-away/loading zones, colored curbs reflecting different rules, time limits, and fines. Had you turned your car back into Hertz before leaving Madrid, you would have avoided this altogether and saved alot of money (even without the tickets). BTW, you apparently violated a particular ordinance four times, thus the reason for four tickets.

Parking tickets are a real pain but maybe you will decide to use trains and buses from now on

Gee, Paul. that was helpful.......

Yes well you are, as they say, screwed. You probably did violate some nuance of the parking code, ah, four times. Could have been trash pickup and/or (ha ha) street cleaning violations, or no parking Tue/Thur this side of street etc. etc. etc. Ask a native host, friend whatever where you can leave your car for a couple days/weeks (in the future). That said, don't pay your ticket and it could be dicey renting (at least in Spain) in the future (the car companies do share information). Be SURE to keep proof that you paid the ticket and travel with it. Also send a copy into Hertz. I got a speeding ticket in New Zealand (deserved) and was told for months to "please remit xxx to xxx" despite sending in a copy of my payment (paid in country to the bank specified). Sometimes you are in the wrong and don't know why, sometimes you're in the right and still against the wall. Sorry travel friend.