I recently visited Spain and found that the prices for car rental were quite expensive due to the lack of availability.

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I knew there was something going on because I usually leave it late to book a car and normally have no problem! I couldn’t believe it this year when I searched around to find cars sold out or huge price increases.

I am renting a car from Palma airport and have had to pay over double the normal price for a week’s car hire. Unbelievable! I don’t like paying this much for car hire but without a car the holiday would definitely not be the same.

All the car rental companies at Palma airport have increased their prices so you just feel stitched up!

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Add menorca, the list is growing fast Darren.

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We have just booked a holiday in Almeria province arriving in Alicante at beginning of August. Flights and accomodation are booked but car hire is a real problem. We are a party of 6 so require an MPV. In previous years, we have had no problem, but this year is proving a real worry. We have had to book 2 smaller cars which is going to cost us in excess of 1200 GBP at the vastly inflated prices but it seems our choice is severely limited.

Still looking desperately but not holding out much hope. Several things are annoying about this situation apart from the blatant profiteering of the hire companies. The situation should have been publicised more by both the UK national press as well as the agent the accomodation was booked through informing us, in order that people could make an informed decision regarding their holiday plans. If you have booked a flight, chances are you wont get your money back if you decide to cancel.

A car is essential for a lot of areas in Spain and if you arrive at the airport and the booking fails to materialise, that is just plain wrong! Surely the whole Spanish tourism industry is going to take a hammering not just now, but for years to come because of this as I certainly will be thinking very carefully about returning there in the future. The banks have a heck of a lot to answer for, thats for sure. I hope others have more success than we are having at the moment.

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We have just been told by our carhire company that a car no longer is available for us to collect from Valencia. As we booked and paid for this in April I find it dreadful that Spanish companys can do this with just four days notice. We have spent hours trying to book another car with no luck at all. Don’t know what we will do as Villa is quite remote, no shops or anything. As we leave on Sunday I feel we may be on the bus if there is even one. I think the tourist trade in Spain will really suffer as I for one will think twice about going again, and we go at least three times a year.

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We have been looking for a car to hire all w/end in Alicante, there definatley is a shortage and I can’t find a small car for less than 370.00 for a weeks hire.

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Just gave up my flights to Spain and cancelled my long let apartment arrangements in Murcia, due to this. Last year we spent £350 for 3 weeks, this year, £1,150 quotes, when/if available. Booked another holiday (car not required) in another country! Good luck for the future Spain.

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Like many others, the price hike is making our trip to spain to expensive. i don’t understand the prob of the rental companies when car manufacturers are practically giving cars away to fleet buyers, seems like a price hike scam .

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[...] search around the web reveals a possible cause – Travel Rants suggests the shortage of cars is because of the recession, with companies unable to purchase enough [...]

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We have the same problem at Faro in the Algarve, prices have doubled and even trebled in some cases. There are a couple of interesting articles about how the credit crunch lead to the shortages of cars here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/columnists/nicktrend/5283811/Travel-advice-Holiday-car-rentals-could-be-scarce-this-summer.html
http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200907/1248539154.html

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We have also had this problem. Have got flights to go to stay in our holiday home but have been quoted 1200euros for 20 days car hire. Just won’t do it – would rather go somewhere else and waste the flight price. Could be a real problem for the accomodation rental market. People will not rent without being able to get a car. They will just go somewhere else. Thought Spain was trying to turn it’s tourism industry around in the recession!!

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Just bitten by the credit crunch…. Apparently no one is lending money to the car hire companies in Spain to buy cars with. Demand is high, supply is low and it’s just cost me nearly 3 x as much as last year….. Irony is that there are literally ’000s of new cars all over Europe rusting in monster sized car lots.

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My nephew recently arrived at Barcelona airport to be told that the prepaid voucher he had for a three day car hire was no longer valid although it had been issued direct by National Atesa themselves. He was directed to an Avis desk where he was given a Volkswagen Passat estate on limited mileage for 418 euros for a three day hire. The choice was simple. Pay it or go without a car. At the same time I was watching the MOto GP from Donington in my apartment on Spanish television. All I could see as the bikes roared round was advertising presumably from the Spanish Tourist Board with the words ‘Visit Spain’. Can someone, anyone, tell me, why anyone would want to “Visit Spain” if this is the type of treatment visitors receive the very moment they actually arrive on Spanish soil? I was actually born in Spain and I feel ashamed of what is happening. Can I suggest that as many people as possible write to the Spanish tourist board and Spanish embassy to express their outrage and disgust at what is happening with Spanish car hire at the moment and leave them in no doubt that unless something is done people will simply stop going to Spain or where possible choose the option of driving down to the country?

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We have an apartment in Vera, Almeria which at least 1 hour’s drive from the nearest airport. Luckily our holiday rentals haven’t been affected by this at the moment as most of our guests are from mainland Europe and bring their own cars.

On the Eye on Spain forum I use, there are plenty of posts about people queueing at the arrival airport (Alicante, Murcia, Almeria) to find no vehicles available. One of the big brokers is offering to refund the difference between the original booked price and the subsequent increase, but to date I have not seen anyone successfully receive a refund. 99% of the time we use a broker and we collect our car from a van in the car park. Very reliable service and never been let down yet. Paying on arrival is another benefit.

In response to Richard Holland’s post above, this situation has been known about since at east March this year as we were advised by our reguar broker that we use when we go to Spain. The BBC have only picked up on this today when the problems have been evident since the beginning of July. I agree, holidaymakers should be made aware that there is a shortage this year ad advise to book the hire early, but how far do you push it? I always book a car when I book a flight. I use two sites and compare, then make a booking. One week before departure I check them again to see if the price has dropped, in which case I cancel one booking and make another. I try to advise UK guests of this as well, but people will always wait until the last minute to try and grab a bargain.

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I have a villa holiday company near Alicante and we hire cars for our clients, and this year have had nothign short of a nightmare locating the cars.

Cna I just say thought that I know first hand why this problem has occured.

In light of the credit crunch, banks expected tourism rates to decrease, and were also nervous and by result, they did not extend credit to the car hire companies.

Car hire companies by their cars on credit, rent them, then pay back the loansa t the end of the peak season. That is how the survive.

They work on very small margins, and rely on cheap credit, and the ability to easily sell their fleet after the season.

With no credit to buy cars, and no car purchase market to sell their fleet…car hire companies could not provide enough cars to meet demand.

Once money did start flowing in, they were still unable to purchase additional vehicles as the manufacturers had simply not made them. it is impossible to buy an MPV in Alicante for 2 months!

I realise this is no excuse for late cancellations and other administrative errors, but car hire companies for the most part work off a very large number of no shows, and they have never been unable to get cars before. They were not equipped to cope with the crisis, and many of them will simply go out of business.

A very sad result of the credit crunch, but please…DO NOT blame Spain!

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A guest of ours has arrived at Almeria airport today having booked a car with a broker on Thursday. This was a very late booking, so there is no excuse for the companies still overbooking on a bank holiday weekend. The lady was left stranded at the airport with her 8 year old son and 2 suitcases. She ended up taking a taxi which cost her €80 (her hire car was going to be €84 for 3 days!!) and of course will need one back on Tuesday.

It is totally unacceptable that the car was offered, even allowing for no shows. The fact she was what I would consider to be a vulnerable traveller makes the situation even worse.

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So that’s what’s been going on this past year! I’ve lived here in Madrid for years and years and always rent a car for vacations, and this past year the prices were far too high at multinational rentacar companies and local operations alike, so I ended up borrowing my sister-in-law’s car for August. Even in low season, in January 2010 we had to forego on renting a car in La Coruña for a 3-day visit because it was more expensive (189 euros) than taking taxis!
Sara Jones is right, too: that same sister-in-law bought a standard model Volkwagen Golf in September 2009, no special paint or anything, and is STILL WAITING for delivery. The dealership says there’s been a slowdown in the manufacturing process. So which brand of cars is the one of all those 1000s of cars rusting on the lots? It certainly isn’t VW!

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A car is essential for a lot of areas in Spain and if you arrive at the airport and the booking fails to materialise, that is just plain wrong! Surely the whole Spanish tourism industry is going to take a hammering not just now, but for years to come because of this as I certainly will be thinking very carefully about returning there in the future.

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