Spain and Portugal for Visitors

You may want to have a car in Spain because your stay is going to be longer than ten days or a fortnight, or you want the flexibility that your own wheels give you, or simply because many parts of Spain and Portugal are totally unreachable by public transport. Whatever, and whether you have decided to take your own vehicle or rent one there, you will find there are certain singular aspects of driving in Spain, the first of which is Spanish drivers. Now, let it not be said that Spaniards are bad drivers, they are not - think of Fernando Alonso or Carlos Saenz. They are, however, often inconsiderate and have the same respect for driving laws they have for any legislation for which they do not see the need (unlike generally conformist Brits, Americans and North Europeans, a Spaniard has to understand a norm before he will heed it). So traffic lights are shot, bus lanes ignored, speed limits are something that happens to other people, and so on. Fortunately, in the last decade or so, increased city congestion has at least taught Spanish drivers a previously unknown virtue: patience.

Enough ranting, I expect you are reading this because you want practical advice. When driving in Spain, remember the following:

• Drive on the right. I know it's obvious, but I had a near-death experience once, driving out of a campsite in the south of England the morning after an overnight cross-channel ferry ride, so it can slip your mind.
• Keep the following documentation with you in the car:
  • Driving licence (international if you are from a non-EU country), and passport if your licence does not have a photograph. Note that the minimum age for driving throughout Europe is 18, whether or not you have a licence
  • Vehicle registration document (called matrí­cula in Spain, the V5C in the UK)
  • Insurance certificate. At least third-party insurance is obligatory and green card insurance is advisable.
• A car lacking an EU number plate needs to display the relevant nationality sticker (GB for Brits).
• Fit headlamp converters to a right-hand drive car (so they point in the right direction for driving on the right) or have them fitted.
• Carry a spare bulb set for the car lights AND the necessary tools to change them.
• If you need glasses when driving, keep a spare pair in the glove compartment.
• You must have a red warning triangle, preferably two. These are for placing 50 m behind and, if you have the second triangle, in front of the car in case of unavoidable stoppage, breakdown, etc.
• Keep a first-aid kit in the car. I do not think it is compulsory, though the BBC says it is, but it is a good idea anyway.
• Have at least one visibility vest in the car, at hand (not in the boot). It is obligatory to put this on if you need to get out of the car on a motorway, to walk to an emergency phone, for example.
• Do as I say, not as the Spaniards do, by which I mean follow ordinary safety norms - don't drink and drive (not even a little), don't drive while using a mobile phone (especially a hand-held one), children under 12 must not travel in the front seat of a car unless strapped in á la Hannibal the Cannibal, all car occupants must wear safety belts, and motorcycle riders must wear crash helmets.
• On-the-spot fines for driving offences can theoretically be imposed by traffic police. I say "theoretically" because I have never known anyone personally who has had this happen to them (a taxi driver I know says this is because the police never have the right forms and things at hand), but there is always a first time. There is a hefty added penalty if you cannot or do not pay on the spot.
• Speed limits are normally clearly indicated on the open road, rarely so elsewhere. The following are assumed to apply:
• Residential areas - 20km/h (12mph)
• Built-up areas - 50km/h (30mph)
• Carreteras, main roads - 90km/h (55mph)
• Autoví­as, dual carriageways - 100km/h (60mph)
• Autopistas, motorways - 120km/h (74mph).
• Most Spanish roadsigns are international, but you will come across many examples of outdated ones like the "Give Way" in the photo at the top of the page. Common sense and other road markings will usually tell you what they mean if it is not immediately clear.
• Be especially alert, careful and slightly more cautious than usual, driving norms often differ from what you are used to. When driving on to a motorway, for example, the slip road is separated from the motorway by a dotted line where you may have to stop until there is a gap in the traffic, and when you are in a queue of cars behind a slow-moving vehicle, it is illegal to overtake the queue in front of you: the car immediately behind the slow vehicle must overtake it, then the one behind that, successively.
• Be ready for fast-moving traffic, especially if you are American. And it may seem aggressive to you, as well, so stay cool - it's nothing to do with you personally. Spaniards are much more given to using their horns than Americans or Brits, and the custom of signalling an intention to overtake by moving the nose of your car to near touching distance of the other's rear bumper is appallingly widespread.
• It is not common knowledge, but Spain has minimum speed limits as well as maximums. I won't list them (I don't, in fact, know them all), but I think, for example, that when the maximum limit is 100 km/h, the minimum is something like 60. unless you have a valid reason to go slower. I know of no such thing as a minimum speed radar trap and I think what it really boils down to in practice is don't hold up the traffic.
• Toll (peaje) motorways are common, but can usually be avoided if economy matters more than haste. They are indicated by the letters AP in their name (e.g., AP IV) and there is normally a carretera (e.g., N IV) connecting the same two places. Most online journey planners such as Via Michelin (www.viamichelin.co.uk) have an "avoiding tolls" search option.