mhsqcx081114

Hi all,

my partner & I will be leasing a car in France and travelling through France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria & Germany with it. Being a lease car, it has a very distinctive number plate.

We are intending to travel along the southern side of the Pyrenees entering Spain at the Frontera de la Portalet and exiting Puigcerda. I don't think we will be visiting/passing through any very large towns/cities.

We are primarily interested in visiting the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park & Aigüestortes i Estany of Saint Maurici National Park.

My partner has some safety concerns with respect to someone stopping us and trying to take over the car. How safe is it to drive through this region especially along "back" roads like the H-631 if you don't have a car registered in Spain?

The area we are intending to visit looks very beautiful and we would like to be able to enjoy our time there.

What are people's thoughts? I would like to be able to put my partner's mind at ease (as well as mine).

Cheers.

LupineChemist

Wait...you fear someone trying to carjack you.

While nobody can say the risk is zero, I can say it's laughably remote. Especially in that area there are tons of French plates. Keep in mind the Spanish side of the Pyrenees tend to have better ski resorts since they are the best mountains in Spain while demand in France is concentrated on the Alps.

Northern Spain also tends to be the wealthiest part of Spain and so there is much less property crime there, too. Regardless, foreign number plates are very common (there's been a car with Swedish plates parked on my street in Madrid for awhile now) and nobody actually cares.

Violent crime in Spain is exceedingly rare and the biggest problem is theft in areas with a more depressed economy.

stut

Have happily driven French hire cars round the Basque country without incident (well, apart from the incredibly confusing roads exiting Donostia).

The rumour may come from the fact that there were some thieves targeting British-registered cars in northern Spain (there are ferries from the UK to Bilbao and Santander) about 4-5 years ago, which made for some radio adverts here, and the UK FCO's travel advice. These warnings have since been removed.

Be sensible (don't leave stuff out on display in the car, be aware of where you're parking, etc) but don't be paranoid.

hotel_user

Agree - driven UK car many happy miles around the areas.

sometimes stopped by police (road block), looking for ALL documents - but you would have the log book / insurance and drivers licence and passport with you anyway ......

Was a problem at motorway service areas a few years back with tyre slashing (AP7)
seems to have gone away.

mhsqcx081114

From the Australian Governments Travel Advice website dated 15 June 2017, under Crime :

"Thieves commonly target motorists, especially (though not only) along the Mediterranean coast from Marseille in France to Valencia in Spain. They might try to convince you to pull over because of an apparent problem with your vehicle, or offer assistance to change a slashed or flat tyre. While one assists you, an accomplice steals from the car. Cars with foreign number plates are often targeted. Thieves have also broken into caravans and motor homes, particularly in public parking areas."

I would like to know how prevalent this really is. Is the Australian government being overly cautious? Have things worsened with the increased numbers of immigrants?

Our lease car will have French lease car number plates which appear quite different to standard French number plates and do stand out a bit. It is for this reason that we are a bit concerned.

At night we remove everything from the car and leave the glovebox open. During the day luggage etc would be covered.

Any thoughts?

UAPremExecflyer

That is deeply prejudicial.
Where do you come up with this nonsense?!!
Several people with direct experience have told you not to worry.
You might be better off just staying home.

WorldLux

That's a scam that has be going on for years and about which tourist driving to Spain are being warned about every year when summer vacations are about to start. The obvious tip is to check tire pressures before setting off. You'll notice a flat tire or any other issue with the car. If someone signals you a problem and you haven't noticed any difference WRT how the car drives, don't stop and keep driving. Once they are gone, you can exit and stop to check. It's as easy as that.

No. AFAIK, all cars in France use the same type of number plates. They all look like this


Only collection vehicles and provisional registrations can get special number plates. The former can get number plates with white text on black background whereas the latter get number plates with white text on red background. Even cops and the armed forces changed to the new type. Previously they had all sorts of special number plates.

Don't leave any valuables in the car. Some moron broke into the car of a colleague to steal change worth less than 2€. It happen in France and the car was registered there. I wouldn't use the glovebox for anything else than paper. It gets so hot in the cars in Spain during the summer months that even personal electronics will suffer.

MSPeconomist

I think the OP is concerned about the special tax free plates (detaxe) that are given when TVA hasn't been paid on the car because the owner or person whose name is on the lease is not an EU citizen or permanent resident. In the past, these plates were always distinctive as they were bright red, but I don't know whether this has changed.

HalconBCN

Driving around Sydney is probably more dangerous, if that helps to put it into perspective for you.
Take the usual precautions as in any country and you will be fine.