Guide to Driving in Spain

The feeling of driving out of the car rental parking lot in an unknown country with your significant other, map in hand and ready to go, makes anyone giddy with excitement as the anticipation of your long-planned trip builds.

Your are going for it. You’ve rented the car and are prepared to travel at your own pace to the places you picked. Good choice!

No, you’re not going the wrong way. Can be confusing for a second, right? But then you realize that their way of signaling a speed bump is with arrows pointing in the direction of the oncoming traffic. Go figure.

Now, for a more enjoyable time, and so you are not caught unawares like we were when we came across the above road markings the first time, it’s best to know what to expect when you’re out on the road. Here are a few pointers for you:

Roads in Spain

Spain is a good country to drive around. Even the dirt roads we drove through were OK.

In our experience, roads in Spain are, for the most part, very well kept. Freeways and toll highways are well maintained. Local roads and back roads are also in good conditions, and even the dirt roads we went through were ok. We travelled more than 22,500 kms and we only drove through one really bad dirt road stretch when trying to get to a filming location of Game of Thrones.

You will find two types of highways in Spain:

Autovias and Autopistas

Autovias are highways that were built following the major, but old, traveling routes. Thus, they are not as modern in their design as Autopistas are. Autopistas are modern highways that are usually tolled, but not always, and are meant for more speedy travel, mainly by cars.

Autovias are generally designated by the letter A followed by a number, A-1 in the example above, and are always toll-free. Autopistas will generally be designated by the letters AP when tolled followed by one or two numbers, AP-68 in the example above. Designations may change when a highway is no longer tolled, for example.

Highways in green, E-5 and E-80 in the example above, are part of the European network of roads.

Major two-way roads with wide shoulders are designated with an N, as in National roads. N-633 and N-240 above.

Then come the provincial and regional roads whose designation and colors will depend on their local jurisdiction. They may be two-way or double-lane roads.

The local backroads , will be the tightest roads and though they are mostly very well kept, you should still drive carefully as it is in these roads where accidents are bound to happen.

Tolls

Once you get to the toll, you’ll have the choice to pay with Credit Card, Metalico , or Telepeaje.

Telepeaje is the electronic toll system for frequent users. This will not apply to you, a tourist. That is the odd “T” symbol in the picture above.

Metalico is cash. Just shove it in, like elsewhere.

Paying with Credit Card is easy and fast. Note that if it is a card only lane, the amount to be paid may not be shown when you get there, so you may not know how much you are paying. For some reason, these machines do no tell you the amount, just the instructions for paying. It will show on some receipts, or otherwise on your bank statement. They won’t scam you or anything, just sometimes the toll is not shown anywhere.

Speed Limits

Speed limit for each type of road when you’re driving a car, or *turismo*, as they are called locally.

Not a lot to explain, here. The image is worth a lot of words.

Unlike a lot of comments I read online, we very seldom came across someone who was speeding, or in a hurry. Only once did we see reckless driving, and that was a group of tourists who’d rented expensive cars and were racing them on the roads of the Picos de Europa mountains. They crashed the car, of course.

Other than that, I really cannot complain. This was even more noticeable after we took a break and jumped over to Italy for a week. Man, did we notice a difference in the way people drive! We were happy when we came back to the roads in Spain. It felt like coming back to Canada. 🙂

Emergencies

When you pick up your rental vehicle, it will come equipped with a couple of roadside reflective triangle signals and a reflective vest. You must put on that vest before getting out of your car if you’re stuck on the roadside. You’ll be fined if you’re caught not doing so.

Once you’ve put on your vest and set up the triangles you can go about your business changing your tire or googling a local tow company.

Driving and parking in small towns in Spain

It might get tight at times, but it really just adds to the adventure! And remember to do your research beforehand so you don’t get caught in an impossible situation.

I strongly advice that you plan ahead when you visit one of those cute, tiny towns. It’s not fun driving around in a maze of streets that gets narrower by the turn forcing the locals to plaster themselves against the walls like Egyptian drawings just so you can get through.

Do your research. Find out exactly where you want to go, how you will get there and most importantly, where you are going to park. This information will be invaluable once you are there. Many small towns already have designated areas for tourist parking. These tiny towns provide it so you don’t have to drive through their narrow, narrow streets. Plus, you can save valuable holiday time by knowing what you’re doing before you get there.

Small, out of the way towns need tourism and people are patient, but there is only one wrong turn separating the welcome tourist and the nuisance one.

Driving and parking in cities in Spain

Like everywhere else, cities in Spain can be complicated to drive through and park when you are not a local.

I recommend that you figure out where you’ll be parking before driving into a city. Driving around and around looking for a parking spot can put a damper on your most perfect travel day.

Most parking lots in cities are underground. Entrances are usually tight, sometimes really tight, as are the lanes and parking stalls. (No Canadian standards here.) It’s always possible to get in and out without a scratch, though, just be careful.

On-street parking can be a bit confusing because parking lanes are marked in different colours. But once you know what each colour means it’s easier to be on the lookout for a spot. White, blue, green and yellow parking lanes are used in most of the country.

White = Free parking. No time restrictions. Lucky you!

Blue = Pay parking. There may be a limit to the time you are allowed to park, or a time frame where you do not need to pay so check for signs or read the pay park instruction panel. Even if it’s in Spanish you can get an idea of time limits.

Green = Residents only. A no-parking zone for tourists. Very few places, some around Madrid, allow you to pay-park in these areas for a short period of time and at a higher cost.

Yellow = No parking allowed.

In some places, mainly cities, you may find orange, red, alternating blue/orange, etc. parking lanes. In Madrid, for example, alternating blue/orange is for low-cost, long-term (12 hrs) parking and is used around hospitals or around the city centre. Unless it’s the blue/orange, which is very convenient, just stick to white or blue.