Public transport
Planes
Spain’s national airline is Iberia, (www.iberia.es, tel 902 400 500), which operates international and national flights. Domestic fllights may be cheaper with budget airlines Spanair (www.spanair.com) or Air Europa (www.aireuropa.com).
Trains
RENFE (www.renfe.es) operates the Spanish national train network. Smaller towns are served by regional network.
The hight speed train- AVE-service is constantly being improved and extended considerably so that by 2007 all provincial capitals will be within a four-hour journey of Madrid. A full refund is offered is an AVE train arrives more than five minutes late at its destination.
Fares are cheap –about €0,60 per 10km for second class, €1 per 10 km for first class-though they vary wildly according to the train’s speed and comfort. Talgo trains are long-distance trains, trhough slower than the AVE, sometimes with sllepers for evernight journeys. The Talgo TEE Operates inernational routes.
You can buy tickets at station ticket windows, from machines, at RENFE offeces and RENFE appointed travel agents or online.
Buses
The bus service in Spain’s cities and towns and the long-distance coach service are excellent. Make sure you establish which station they leave from, as there are often serveral. All buses are no-smoking.
In cities, buses usually run from around 6am to 11pm and then a night service takes over. Timetables are often published in local free newspapers and magazines.
For long-distance bus travel ALSA (www.alsa.es) is the largest company. Oter companies include Auto Res (www.auto-res.net) and Continental-Auto (www.continental-auto.es).
Taxis
Taxi fares in Spain’ cities are moderate in compraison to other European cities an run off a meter. They can be hailed in the street: look for a green light and a ‘libre’ sign on the roof. It is not usual to tip taxi drivers, though they won´t say no if you try.
Driving
A driving licence from any EU country si valid in Spain. You do not need a Spanish licence, but you will need to take your existing licence to the local provincial traffic department to be stamped and registrered.
If you are a non-resident, you can only drive in Spain for six months a year. Anyone from a non-EU country can drive for six months in one calendar year on their existing licence but must then obtain a Spanish licence.
To drive a foreign-registrered car in Spain you must carry at all times your passport, current driving licence, valid insurance, vehicle registration document, a national identity plate, two red warning triangles, first aid kit, fire extinguisher and a set of spare bulbs.
It’s a lot to remember, but failure can result in a hefty fine.
Many non-residents bring their car to Spain and retain their national number plates, though this is strictly speaking illegal as it is assumed that you are returning to country of origin and paying tax and MOT ( vehicle registration) there.
But anyone, from the European Union or otherwise, who is intending to take up Spanish residency can bring their car with them without having to pay IVA or car registration tax –providing you can prove you owned the car for at least six months before bringing it to Spain, that you are a non-resident in the country you have come from and you have paid VAT in the country where the car was purchased.
Certificates of non-residence don’t exist in the UK, but you can obtain them from the Commisaries in all main towns or at the consulate office in Spain.
Residents have six months after obtaining their “Resiencia” to sort out legally ‘importing’ their vehicle. It’s a tricky form-filling process which takes a few months and costs about 12 percent of value or your car.
Spanish Roads
The quality varies from excellent on the main arteries to dire out out in the sticks –and the standard of driving is equally erratic. Road deaths are a constant fixture on the Spanish television news, with 14,3 deaths per 100,000 population – more than double that of the UK.
Motorways have an ‘A’ or ‘E’ prefix to the road number and are often toll roads. For short distances you pay at a booth as you exit the road (some toll roads allow you to collect a ticket at the start for longer journeys, so you pay the total when you exit).
Useable lanes will have a green arrow, closed lanes will be indicated with a red cross. Choose the lane with an attendant if you are not paying with a credit card or exact change.
Motorways and dual carriageways –fast roads but not necessaraly with a central reservation –have a 100-120kph speed limit as marked. Main roads have a N or CN before the road number and country roads begin with a C and have lower speed limits applied (though many drivers feel this is discretionary).
The speed limit on country roads is 90kph, on urban roads 50kph and in residential areas 20-50kph as marked.
Fuel
At any garage you will see a choice of four pumps: Normal 92 octane, Super 98 octane, Sin Plomo (unleaded) 95/98 octane and Diesel (gasoil/gasoleo). Attendants will usually come out and serve you.
Parking
In small towns, leave your car on the outskirts and walk in as otherwise you will invariably find yourself trapped in a maze of narrow one-way alleys with no hope of immediate escape.
In cities, underground car parks are by far the best option for when you want to park –the easy to enter and exit and provide extra security.
Otherwise look for parking spaces marked in blue and buy a ticket from a machine or attendant. Watch out for a two-hour maximum parking time.
Avoid parking where the kerb is painted yellow or red–or where there is a no parking sign obviously.
Other signs to look out for are ‘Estacionamiento prohibido’ or a red circle on a blue background with a red circle on a blue background with a red line through it. In some residential areas parking is permitted on one side of the street for the first half or the month (see blue and red sign market ‘1-15’) while changing to the other-side for the remainder of the month (sign says ’16-31’).
