My family and i are visiting Spain next March. We will be renting two cars as there are 7 of us (plus a 2 year old) plus luggage plus a child seat.

Do we need special driver's licenses to drive in Spain?

There will be at least two drivers of the two vehicles plus possibly two others as "alternate" drivers.

Thanks.

Cathy Berg

Your question is a bit vague.
If you're coming in from Portugal with a full EU Portuguese licence, no you don't need any "special" paperwork. If your license has been issued in Arabic by the Autonomous Province of Outer Mongolia, then chances are you will do.

You can probably rent an 8-seater van if you want to save some money, though I much prefer travelling in a car.

Sorry my question was not clear. We are US citizens flying into Malaga Airport and renting cars to sightsee in and around Marbella/Malaga area.

Will our US drivers' licenses be sufficient or do we need some other drivers license to drive in Spain?

Cathy Berg

according to the US Embassy in MAD, you will need an International Driving Permit (basically a translation of your license).

That might be what the embassy reccomends, but we simply present our passport, DL, and credit card at the rental counter and we are on our way. I would suggest having a photocopy of your DL and passport in the event of a fender bender etc. as the police need something to identify you & to file a report in the event of a problem ( though calling your rental company should be sufficient if you're unlucky enough to need to do so ).

Curious as to who the OP is renting from since you're using two vehicles. Carjet is a consolidator who can get you good prices at AGP ( assuming that you can drive a stick ).

Barry

Some of the local car hire operators at AGP are a bit (or more than a bit!) rough. What they accept isn't necessarily what the police will accept if you get stopped.

Two times out of the three that I have rented a car from there, the car came without any papers which obviously is an offense, as confirmed by the Guardias that stopped and duly ticketed me (fortunately, that fine is payable by the car owner, and the car hire office accepted it alright).

I do have an European license, so I can't report on what happens if you get stopped with a US one and no IDP.

I have rented cars in Spain, both in Madrid and in Malaga airport. I have a California license and have never been asked to show an International Driving Lic in Western Europe. The only place I was asked is at the border of Austria/Czech Rep where the immigration officer said I should have an Int'l license next time.
I have not been stopped by police in Spain so I have no comment about that. I would always carry my license AND passport when driving. I would hire a car from a reputable and large company even if it means paying a little more.
Traffic can be cumbersome in Costa del Sol, depending on the time of day and time of year. It can be crowded and parking may be a pain.
Take a deep breath and give yourself extra time so you can enjoy Andalucia.
Another suggestion is to go inland to some of the small towns outside the coast. You will find most of the coast to be very commercial, crowded and touristy. If you want a more laid back scene, go inland.

No comment other than to say that experiences can indeed vary.

More important to characterize for the OP what the "typical" car rental experience out of AGP should be like. If one deals with the rental concessions located in the airport, the rental experience is just like that in the States. Service is prompt, organized, and documents are in order. It comes down to how you adapt to the local roads ( and the parking which is much tighter than many folks in the States are accustomed to ). The only trickery we've encountered is that some concessions tell you to fill the tank prior to return ( better deal to the renter ) while others tell you to bring the car in as empty as you can ( works better for the company ).

The one thing which is different in Spain is that the cars here tend to have more little scratches & dents which reflect the tighter parking and every day wear and tear put on the vehicles. The first couple of times I get a car with scratches/dinks which are not noted on the paperwork, I go back to the desk who checks the computer & tells me not to worry . . . it was a leap of faith for me, but we've not had problems in that regard either. Quite a contrast to car rental in Ireland where the vehicles as pristine & immaculate and they note every scratch before and after.

Barry

Thank you all for your responses. You have given me some very valuable information. i have done extensive reading on the traffic in the Costa del Sol area and hope that we will avoid some of that by going in March of next year. The weather may not be the best but the crowds shouldn't be too bad that time of year.

The main reason for renting two cars is that if all of us don't want to go to the same place on the same day, we will have two cars to use. I have gone online to check the prices of cars and am inclined to use carjet unless there is negative response to that. I have read some good feedback on them thus far. We are not into using a stick shift so are looking for automatic transmission cars and they are few and far between especially the size we need.

thanks again.

Cathy Berg

I've also heard good things about carjet, and amigoautos is also good for AGP rentals, but, assuming no big price differences, I would book directly with Record, because they're probably the only on-airport local operator that doesn't force you to prepay for your petrol at an extortionate rate (I paid Goldcar 70 Euros for a 55-litre tank when pump prices were 0.973!). However, I don't know whether they've got any automatics.

Carjet are fine, but as Malaga airport is under construction a lot of car rental companies are now based offsite.
Not sure when the airport will be fully up and running and if all car rental companies will return or not?
I didn't bother with going with Carjet earlier this year and went with Avis as they're based at the airport which made things so much easier as we arrived on a late flight.

Driving in Sothern Spain is relatively easy as thre are so many Brits out there!