Car Hire Scams in Spain: What to Watch Out for at Spanish and Canary Islands Airports

Spain is the most popular car hire destination in Europe for British travellers. It is also, by a significant margin, the destination that generates the most complaints. The tactics used at car hire desks in Spanish airports are well documented, formally investigated by consumer authorities on both sides of the Channel, and experienced by a depressingly large number of visitors every single year.

This guide covers the most common car hire scams in Spain and encountered at Spanish and Canary Islands airports, what the law says about each one, and exactly what to do if you have already been charged for something you should not have paid.

A note on language: the word scam is used deliberately throughout this guide where practices have been formally investigated, named and reported by Spain’s official consumer body the Organizacion de Consumidores y Usuarios (OCU) and by the UK’s Which? consumer organisation.

Where the word is used in relation to a named operator, it reflects documented consumer complaints and formal regulatory action, not personal opinion.

The Official Picture: What Spain’s Consumer Watchdog Found

In 2025, Spain’s leading consumer body, the OCU (Organizacion de Consumidores y Usuarios), filed formal complaints with Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs naming five major car hire operators: Goldcar, Centauro, Hertz, Europcar and Sixt.

The OCU’s investigation found a consistent pattern of misleading practices across all five, including presenting optional insurance as mandatory, hiding fuel policy conditions in small print, and charging undisclosed airport surcharges.

The OCU has called for fines, inspections and mandatory industry reforms. The case has been submitted to Spain’s Direccion General de Consumo. For travellers hiring a car in Spain right now, official resolution is unlikely before their holiday. The practical protection is knowing what to expect before you reach the desk.

The 8 Most Common Car Hire Scams at Spanish Airports

1. The Insurance Trap

The most common and most costly tactic at Spanish airport car hire desks. You arrive with a pre-purchased third-party excess insurance policy, or with cover provided by your credit card or travel insurance. The desk agent tells you this cover is insufficient, invalid, or will leave you exposed to charges of up to €2,000 or more in the event of any damage. The pressure is significant, the language is technical, and you have just stepped off a flight.

What the law says: EU Regulation 2011/83 requires all mandatory charges to be shown before you confirm your booking. Optional insurance is exactly that: optional. No hire company can legally require you to purchase additional cover if you already have valid third-party excess insurance in place. They can and will try. You can and should decline.

Operators with documented complaints for this tactic: Goldcar and Centauro are specifically named by the OCU for pressuring customers into purchasing extra insurance with claims that standard coverage is insufficient. Goldcar has appeared in Which? investigations as one of the worst performers for insurance upselling for over a decade.

Insider Tip: Book a standalone excess insurance policy from a specialist provider before you travel. Printouts from insurers such as insurance4carhire or Questor Insurance are accepted by all reputable operators. Having the document in hand before you reach the desk changes the conversation entirely. The agent cannot tell you your cover is invalid if you can show them a printed policy with clearly stated terms.

2. Phantom Damage Claims

You return the car, walk away, and days or weeks later a charge appears on your credit card for damage you did not cause. In some cases the damage was pre-existing and not properly documented at collection. In others, the same minor scratch is charged to multiple consecutive customers. In the worst cases, the damage does not exist at all.

This practice is the subject of more consumer complaints in Spain than any other single car hire issue. Reports on TripAdvisor, Trustpilot and the MoneySavingExpert forums describe customers being charged hundreds of euros for scratches they can prove were present when they collected the vehicle.

What to do at collection: Before you accept the keys, walk every centimetre of the car and photograph everything. Every scratch, every dent, every stone chip. Film a continuous video of the full exterior and interior. Make sure every mark is noted on the collection document. If the agent refuses to note damage, photograph the agent declining to note it. Do not accept the car until the paperwork reflects its actual condition.

What to do at return: Film the car again before handing the keys back. Ask the agent to sign a form confirming the car has been returned with no new damage. Some agents will refuse. Film the refusal. Keep all documentation.

Insider Tip: Return the car during staffed hours whenever possible. If you return outside opening hours and leave the keys in a drop box, photograph the car, the drop box location and a nearby timestamp reference before walking away. Out-of-hours returns with no witness are where phantom damage claims are easiest to make.

3. The Full-to-Empty Fuel Scam

You are asked to prepay for a full tank of fuel at collection and return the car empty. The fuel is charged at above-market rates, and since it is almost impossible to return a car with a perfectly empty tank, the hire company pockets the value of any remaining fuel. On a small island like

You are asked to prepay for a full tank of fuel at collection and return the car empty. The fuel is charged at above-market rates, and since it is almost impossible to return a car with a perfectly empty tank, the hire company pockets the value of any remaining fuel. On small islands like Mallorca or Lanzarote, Which? estimates a small car would need to complete the round trip from the airport to the far end of the island nearly seven times to empty a full tank.

The full-to-empty policy is not illegal but it is widely regarded as unfair and the OCU has specifically called for it to be replaced by a mandatory full-to-full policy. If you are offered a choice of fuel policies, always choose full-to-full: you collect a full tank and return a full tank.

Operators with documented complaints for this tactic: Goldcar, Centauro and Sixt have all faced consumer complaints for fuel policy confusion and inflated prepaid fuel charges at Spanish airports.

4. The Toll Tag Daily Charge

Many hire cars at Spanish airports carry an electronic toll tag (telepeaje) permanently fitted to the windscreen. Some operators charge a daily fee for the tag simply being present in the car, regardless of whether you use a toll road. The charge is often buried in the small print and not mentioned at the desk.

Spain’s main toll networks in Catalonia, the Basque Country and parts of Andalucia use electronic billing. If you do not want the tag, ask the agent at collection to deactivate it or to provide a car without one. Get the confirmation in writing on your rental agreement.

5. The Traffic Fine Administration Fee

If you receive a traffic fine in Spain during your rental, the hire company must pass your details to the Spanish traffic authority (DGT) and is permitted to charge an administrative fee of typically €30 to €60. What is not legitimate is being charged this fee for a fine that does not exist, or being held responsible for a fine incurred by a previous driver of the same vehicle.

Traffic fines in Spain can take months to arrive. If a charge appears on your account without supporting documentation, demand written evidence of the fine and the DGT notification. You can verify any fine directly on the DGT’s official portal using the fine reference number. A company that cannot provide a valid fine reference has no grounds to charge you.

Insider Tip: If you receive a traffic fine administration charge, ask for the fine reference number and check it on the DGT portal. You can verify whether the fine is genuine, who it was issued to and whether it has already been paid. This check takes two minutes and has resolved disputed charges in numerous documented cases.

6. The Upgrade Pressure

You booked a compact. The agent tells you it is not available, or that the road you are planning to drive requires a larger vehicle, or that the compact is not suitable for your number of passengers. None of these claims may be true. The upgrade costs significantly more per day and is where hire companies make a substantial margin.

You are entitled to the vehicle category you booked or an equivalent at no additional cost. If the company cannot provide the category booked, they must offer an upgrade at the same price or a full refund. Accepting a verbal offer of a free upgrade without getting it confirmed in writing can result in a charge appearing later.

7. The Invented International Driving Licence Requirement

A small number of operators at Spanish airports tell customers on arrival that a standard UK or EU driving licence is not sufficient and that an International Driving Permit (IDP) is required. Spain does not legally require an IDP for UK or EU licence holders. The requirement is invented at the desk as a means of extracting a fee for the permit or forcing a cancellation.

A standard UK driving licence is legally valid for car hire in Spain. If an agent tells you otherwise, decline the claim, ask for the legal basis in writing, and escalate to the company’s customer service line immediately.

8. The Cleaning Fee

Returning a car with sand in the footwells or normal road dirt is being used by some operators to levy cleaning charges of €30 to €100. Normal road dirt and beach sand are not grounds for a cleaning charge. A car that requires cleaning to the same standard as it was issued is part of normal vehicle preparation between rentals.

Photograph the interior of the car at both collection and return. Note the condition of the mats, seats and footwells on the collection document. If a cleaning charge appears after return, dispute it with photographic evidence of the car’s condition at handover.

Canary Islands: Specific Operators and Specific Tactics

The Canary Islands carry the same general pattern of airport desk pressure as mainland Spain. One additional tactic is specific to the islands. Goldcar has been reported by multiple customers at Fuerteventura Airport to tell drivers that beaches accessible via unpaved roads will void their insurance entirely unless they purchase additional all-terrain cover at the desk.

This claim contains a kernel of truth that is then used to extract money. It is correct that standard hire car insurance does not cover damage on unpaved roads. What is not correct is that this requires purchasing additional desk insurance. The answer is simply not to drive on unpaved tracks in a standard hire car, which is the advice given throughout our Canary Islands driving guides.

Which? specifically recommends AutoReisen and Cicar as the only Which? Recommended Providers for the Canary Islands, with customer satisfaction scores of 92% and 91% respectively. Both offer all-inclusive pricing that removes desk upselling entirely. If you are hiring a car in Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura or Menorca, booking with either of these operators removes the pressure entirely.

What to Do Before You Reach the Desk

Buy excess insurance in advance. A standalone policy from a specialist provider costs a fraction of what desk insurance costs and removes the most powerful tool agents have to pressure you. Book it at the same time as the car.

Screenshot your booking confirmation. Including every line of the summary, the insurance included, the fuel policy and the total price. If the desk presents a different total, you have documentary evidence of what was agreed.

Know your fuel policy before you arrive. Check your booking confirmation. If it says full-to-empty, factor the cost of a full tank into your budget. If it says full-to-full, arrive knowing you will need to return a full tank.

Photograph and film the car before driving away. Every angle, every panel, the interior, the boot, the wheels and the underside as far as possible. The timestamp on your phone’s camera is your evidence.

Read the contract before signing it. Every line. If the desk agent is hurrying you, slow down. A signature is binding. A verbal explanation at a busy desk is not.

Pay by credit card. Not debit card. A credit card gives you Section 75 protection for charges between £100 and £30,000. If you are charged for something you did not agree to, a Section 75 claim is often the fastest route to a refund.

How to Complain and Get Your Money Back

Step 1: Contact the hire company in writing. Email, not phone. State the charge, the reason it is disputed and the evidence you have. Give them 14 days to respond.

Step 2: Section 75 claim with your credit card provider. If the charge was made to a UK credit card and the hire company does not resolve it, contact your card provider and raise a Section 75 claim. Charges between £100 and £30,000 qualify and the card provider is jointly liable with the hire company.

Step 3: European Car Rental Conciliation Service (ECRCS). The ECRCS is a free dispute resolution service covering major brands including Hertz, Europcar, Sixt, Avis and Enterprise. If direct contact has not resolved the dispute, the ECRCS is typically faster than court action.

Step 4: EU Online Dispute Resolution. For disputes with any company operating in the EU, the European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution platform provides a structured framework for resolving complaints. It is free and applies to all car hire bookings made online.

Step 5: Hoja de Reclamaciones. Any legally operating company in Spain is required by law to provide a Hoja de Reclamaciones (official complaints form) on request. Ask for it at the desk. The act of requesting it often prompts a resolution on the spot.

The Operators With the Best Track Records in Spain

Not every car hire company in Spain operates using the tactics described in this guide. The following operators have consistently strong customer satisfaction records and transparent pricing structures.

AutoReisen – operates exclusively in the Canary Islands. Which? Recommended Provider with a 92% customer satisfaction score. All-inclusive pricing, full-to-full fuel policy, no desk upselling. The benchmark for how car hire should work.

Cicar – Canary Islands specialist with a 91% Which? customer satisfaction score. Strong local reputation across all seven islands for transparent pricing and no-excess policies on most vehicle categories.

Enterprise – Which? rates Enterprise as the strongest performer among major international brands at Spanish mainland airports, with a customer score of 73% at Malaga, where it operates a short shuttle ride from the terminal.

Alamo – specifically cited by Which? for offering a fair full-to-full fuel policy as standard.

Get Car Hire recommends comparing and booking your car hire in Spain below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which car hire companies should I avoid at Spanish airports?

Goldcar and Centauro have been formally named by Spain’s consumer body the OCU for pressuring customers into purchasing unnecessary insurance and for misleading fuel policies. Goldcar has appeared as one of the worst performers in Which? surveys for over a decade. OK Mobility has also been flagged by Which? for rip-off insurance upselling at Barcelona Airport. This does not mean every transaction with these companies ends badly, but the documented pattern of complaints is consistent and long-standing.

Is it legal for a car hire company to insist I buy their insurance?

No. Under EU consumer law, optional insurance must be presented as optional. A hire company cannot legally refuse to hand over a booked and paid-for car solely because you have declined their desk insurance, provided you have valid third-party cover in place. If this happens, ask for the legal basis for the refusal in writing and document everything.

What is the fastest way to get money back after a fraudulent car hire charge?

A Section 75 claim with your credit card provider is typically the fastest route for UK customers. This applies to charges between £100 and £30,000 made on a UK credit card. Contact your card provider, explain that the charge is disputed, and provide your documentary evidence. The card provider is jointly liable with the hire company.

Do car hire scams happen at Canary Islands airports as well as mainland Spain?

Yes. The same pattern applies at Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Tenerife airports. The local operators AutoReisen and Cicar have consistently strong reputations and offer all-inclusive pricing that removes desk upselling entirely. Booking with either of them is the simplest way to avoid the problem at Canary Islands airports.

What should I do if I am charged for damage I did not cause?

Dispute the charge immediately in writing to the hire company with your photographic and video evidence from collection and return. If the company does not resolve the dispute within 14 days, raise a Section 75 claim with your credit card provider. For EU-based disputes, the European Car Rental Conciliation Service and the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform are both free and effective escalation routes.

Know What You Are Signing Before You Drive Away

Car hire in Spain is straightforward when you book with a reputable operator, arrive prepared and know what the contract should and should not contain. The scams described in this guide are not inevitable. They rely on traveller fatigue, time pressure and lack of information. Remove those three factors and the desk agent has very little to work with.

Use the search below to compare deals across Spain and the Canary Islands before you travel. Knowing what you are signing before you reach the desk starts here.