I am making my yearly trip to Spain in July, and this time I think we are planning to rent a car to do some traveling. I was wondering what the requirements are to rent a car in Spain? Do you have to be a certain age? I am 23 and the only one who knows how to drive a stick, but we do have a 25-year-old our group who can be the primary driver. I assume you need an international driver's license, and where would I get one of those? Can I reserve a car ahead of time? Is it better to rent on a weekly basis rather than a daily? Also, I was seraching on Orbitz.com and found a midsize car with AC for $170 per week, is that pretty reasonable? Sorry for all the questions.
Muchas Gracias!

Just got back from Spain and rented a car. Twas my first European driving experience...so here's some quick tips...

1. Not sure about the age thing (I'm over 25 so sorry..didn't pay attention).
2. If you have a valid U.S. driver's license and passport, that's all you need to rent a car...no int'l driver's license necessary.
3. By default, rental cars are stick. If you want automatic, I think you can request one. Again no problem for me - nor you - but can your 25 year old drive a stick if he must be the primary driver? Keep that in mind when scheduling your rental...
4. As far as rates...the best rate I found was at this web site:

http://www.rentacar-europe.com

Someone else on this board referred me to them. They were good, but it would be wise to call the rental agency the day you pick up the car - we had a small problem with address of the pickup location in BCN (the Web site sets up your reservation through a large company - so not all information is always up to date).

Hope that helps...have a great trip!

Three years ago we rented a car in Salamanca, and the primary driver (the person whose name goes on the forms) had to be 21. Other drivers were permitted who were under 21, supposedly in case of emergency. However,I was the only one who was 21 but didn't know how to drive stick -- we had no problems at all using the "emergency drivers" for the whole time.

However, technically speaking, to drive a car here in Spain you should have an international drivers´ license.

If you should get stopped for any reason, and don´t have the international license, the police (or Guardia Civil) could conceivably fine you, which must be paid on the spot. Whether or not you are fined would really depend on the humor of the officer that stopped you.

Try www.carjet.com. Fantastically reasonable rates and drivers over 21 accepted.