Trying to get the best deal when it comes to renting a car is no easy matter. We talked to Mike at Coys Rent A Car to find out the behind-the-scenes information. In this part of the Costa Blanca, businesses have a tendency of coming and going. But not Coys. They have been trading as […]

If you have a property in Spain, there is chance that at some point you have hired a car here. Most people like to be able to travel around to get the real benefit of a holiday home. If you live in Spain, you have probably been involved in hiring one for relatives or friends. […]

It’s been one of the longest lasting debates in the forums in Spain. Must you exchange your foreign driver’s licence for a Spanish driving licence? The camps have been equally divided for years and you will hear countless stories in the bars about people who were told this, or that, or even the other. Must […]

Driving in Spain can be a pleasure. Once you put the city centre behind you, you can find long stretches of motorway without a traffic cone or tailback in sight. Spanish motorways seem to be extraordinarily free from road works and are generally enjoyable to drive on. There are two types of motorway in Spain: […]

When you’re travelling in a foreign country, having an accident might be one of the last things on your mind. However, the risk is probably greater than in your own country. Driving a hire car on holiday, the majority of people have probably not studied the traffic laws too closely. Even living abroad, you can […]

It might not always seem like it when you’re on the roads in Spain, but there is a very comprehensive Spanish highway code. The Código de Tráfico y Seguridad Vial was last modified on 22nd May 2014 (download here). It consists of 941 pages and 385 articles. So it’s unlikely that you’re going to want […]

You’ll have seen the signs on the outside of walls – a circle with a line through it that seems to appear at every spot where you want to park. The ‘Vado’ sign is usually found outside garages, entrances to drive ways and other places where, if you parked, you would block access.   The […]

Whether new traffic laws in Spain are designed to make the roads safer or increase revenue for the traffic department, will always be debated. Whatever your conclusion the new raft of legislation aimed at road users is going to keep trafico busy for the foreseeable future. There is a lot of confusion about the laws, […]

When we first came to Spain, many years ago, it seemed to us that there was a kind of reckless disregard for ‘safety’ on the roads. Drinking and driving was not uncommon. Manoeuvres seemed to be made without warning and oblivious to other road users. And helmets in Spain, even for motorbikes, were almost non-existent. […]

It can be difficult to know what you should and shouldn’t be doing when it comes to driving in Spain. New laws are adding further to the confusion. Ley 6/2014 modificando la Ley sobre Tráfico, Circulación de Vehículos a Motor y Seguridad Vial 339/ 1990  came into effect on 9th May. It introduces some important […]

Probably everyone has been caught out at some time whilst driving in Spain. Sometimes you know you’ve taken a risk and perhaps allowed your attention to  drift from the speed dial. Other times it’s a genuine lack of awareness. This can be particularly common when you’re driving in a different country. They are probably few […]

Ideally, every driver should have to have an induction into the main rules operating in their new terrain. In practice this doesn’t happen and foreign drivers find themselves dropped in at the deep end in a system that can be quite different from the one they’re used to. Compound this with the speed and complacency […]

For many people used to driving in other countries, the rules and regulations that surround them are a complete mystery. You can feel for years that every time you approach a roundabout in Spain you take your life in your hands. What confuses most people is the way in which some cars (not all, but […]

Once of the riskiest aspects of driving in Spain is negotiating Spanish roundabouts. It’s perhaps particularly confusing when the roundabout is on a dual carriageway. What baffles many used to driving in other countries is that cars often travel all the way around roundabouts in Spain in the outside lane.      On a busy day […]