MADRID – Reserve a rental car as early as possible for your autumn holiday in Spain. At least, if you want to make sure you have a car. For example, the trade association of Spanish car rental companies, Feneval warns.
The National Federation of Driverless Vehicles (Feneval) in a recently released statement recommends pre-booking vehicles as early as possible if they want to be sure of a rental car in the autumn.
Related post: Renting a car in Spain, where can you find the lowest and highest prices?
This is particularly important in tourist destinations such as the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, the popular Costas and the major cities. Here tourist reservations are “at the same level or even higher than in 2019”.
Juan Luis Barahona, chairman of Feneval, emphasises that the vehicle shortage is a result of the global semiconductor crisis and that a peak in demand is expected for August, mainly from tourists from the UK, Germany and France.
150,000 fewer cars
Due to the rapid recovery of tourism after the pandemic, the fleet is 27.5% lower than before. That is why the shortages have been pointed out for months: “As of July 31, we have only 550,000 vehicles (including passenger cars and commercial vehicles), although we estimate that we can reach almost 600,000 vehicles this summer. This, while the fleet will be approximately 820,000 in 2019. This year, with more tourists, almost 150,000 fewer cars will be available.
The same rental car can cost double within Spain
The shortage of rental cars affects the price. Although the price differences within Spain are very large, according to La Vanguardia. For example, the rental in the same week of August (from 9 to 16) of a Citroën C3 Picasso from one of the best companies at Menorca airport (Autos Valls) costs €464, with insurance with a deposit, while at the airport of Gran Canaria a Volkswagen Polo with all risks costs €256 (Cicar). The same model costs up to €374,49 at Malaga airport (Goldcar) with all-risk insurance, according to the respective websites.
Related post: Rental cars unaffordable this summer in Spain
