Renting a car in Alicante: the honest guide

There are three realistic pick-up points for a rental car in Alicante: the Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández airport at El Altet, the area around the Alicante Terminal railway station, and the city-centre branches. Choose by how you arrive, but decide on the total price rather than the shop-window rate: in Alicante a rental gets expensive at the counter, not at the booking, when the cover, the fuel policy and the deposit were never made clear.

What follows is the concrete part: which pick-up suits you, what a comparable price has to include, how the deposit really works, where to leave the car in a city whose centre is almost entirely paid parking, and what to know before driving up to Guadalest in August.

Where to collect the car in Alicante

Most of the province's rental traffic goes through the airport, which is shaped by low-cost flights: waves of arrivals packed into a few hours and queues that build in minutes. Companies with a desk inside the terminal serve you on the arrivals floor, a few steps from the baggage belt; others, smaller and keener on price, operate from nearby car parks with a shuttle. It pays to know which one you booked before you land with children, suitcases and a child seat.

If you arrive by train, the streets around Alicante Terminal station hold city branches that usually avoid the airport surcharge. And if you are already in Alicante and just want a car for a few days, a city-centre branch is the practical choice, as long as you know where you will park on your return.

What the advertised price must include

Two rates are only comparable when they cover the same things. Before paying, run through the items that come back to haunt you at the counter.

• Cover and excess: which damage is covered, and the share you carry yourself if there is a knock.
• Fuel policy: full to full is the clean option. If the tank is charged upfront, you also pay a refuelling service.
• Mileage: if it is capped, map your route before signing. A day trip inland and back adds up faster than it looks.
• Additional driver: if you plan to share the wheel, that person must be on the contract or they drive uncovered.
• Situational charges: out-of-hours pick-up, return at another branch, young-driver surcharge, airport fees.

The deposit is not a payment, and it does not vanish

The deposit is a hold the agency places on the main driver's credit card. It is not charged, it is blocked, and if you return the car undamaged with the agreed fuel it is released, on a timescale that depends on your bank more than on the agency. The usual mistake is not the deposit itself but reaching the counter unaware that it existed.

1. 1Hand over a valid licence and a credit card in the main driver's name. With a licence from outside Spain, always carry the national permit: an international one does not replace it, it accompanies it.
2. 2Let the agency pre-authorise the deposit, and ask them to explain the amount and what it covers before you sign.
3. 3Go through the damage sheet with the member of staff present, and photograph the whole car, bumper undersides and wheel rims included.
4. 4Check the fuel level and the odometer, and keep that photo with its date.
5. 5Return the car in the agreed condition and ask for a signed return document.

If you would rather not gamble on the excess, you can buy the agency's extended protection at the counter, deciding in a hurry and tired, or settle it beforehand: on DRIVO an optional full-protection add-on can be added at checkout, which lowers the excess and is in writing before you pay.

Parking in Alicante without nasty surprises

Almost all of Alicante's street grid sits under regulated parking, known locally as ORA. Two colours matter: the blue zone, designed for turnover, with a maximum stay that varies street by street, and the orange zone, reserved for residents of each neighbourhood. A rental car is a resident of no neighbourhood, so orange is not an option for you.

• Around the Explanada de España, the Mercado Central and the Rambla, expect blue zone and limited stays. For longer visits an underground car park beats a fine and a tow truck.
• Do not drive up into the Santa Cruz quarter or towards the Castillo de Santa Bárbara: narrow lanes, steep slopes and turns no car makes.
• In summer, Playa de San Juan and the Albufereta fill up by mid-morning. Go early or take the tram.
• Respect dropped kerbs and loading bays even at lunchtime: that is the mistake that calls out most tow trucks downtown.
• If you are staying in Benidorm or the Marina Alta, ask whether you have a space before you book the car. In high season that, not the rental, is the real problem.

Leaving Alicante: the Costa Blanca and the interior

A car makes sense in Alicante precisely because of what surrounds it: to the south, the salt flats and the cape of Santa Pola; to the north, Altea, Benidorm and the Marina Alta with Dénia and Xàbia; and inland, Guadalest and the Fuentes del Algar waterfalls, where it is the only comfortable way to arrive. The regional CV roads are narrow, with linked bends and viewpoints where everybody stops, so allow more time than the satnav claims.

On tolls: in Spain many motorways coded AP are tolled while other high-capacity roads coded A are free, and some stretches have changed regime over the years. Read the signs as you join and carry a bank card or a VIA-T electronic toll device.

What the rules say in Spain

For cars the limit is 120 km/h on motorways and dual carriageways and 90 km/h on ordinary roads outside built-up areas. In town it is 50 km/h on roads with two or more lanes in each direction, 30 km/h on roads with a single lane in each direction and 20 km/h on single-platform streets shared with pedestrians, and much of central Alicante falls into those last two cases. The alcohol limit is 0.5 g/L in blood, equivalent to 0.25 mg/L in exhaled air; for novice drivers with less than two years of licence and for professional drivers it drops to 0.3 g/L in blood, that is 0.15 mg/L in exhaled air.

You must carry a high-visibility reflective vest reachable from inside the cabin, not stowed in the boot. The emergency pre-warning system is in transition in Spain: it works by alerting other drivers that your vehicle has stopped, but the detail keeps changing, so ask at the counter what the car carries and check the DGT before setting off. Low-emission zones run on the DGT environmental sticker, which grades vehicles as 0, ECO, C, B or unlabelled; the rules, the cities affected and the penalties change often, so check the DGT website and the destination town hall before you travel. On roundabouts, priority belongs to whoever is already on the ring.

The mistakes that cost money at the counter

1. 1Turning up with a debit card when the agency requires credit: one of the commonest reasons a rental collapses at the airport.
2. 2Signing the damage sheet without reading it, then meeting the scratch at return with no way to prove anything.
3. 3Accepting extras in a rush after a night flight, without knowing what the booking already covered.
4. 4Leaving the additional driver off the contract to save a surcharge.
5. 5Returning late: the drop-off time is contractual and delays are billed.

Where DRIVO fits in

DRIVO is a European marketplace for renting vehicles directly from trusted independent and local agencies and from private owners, across Europe and North Africa. The idea is plain: the price you see before paying is the price. Every item is itemised, including DRIVO's service fee, which appears on its own line and is refunded if you cancel free of charge or if the agency cancels. Confirmation is instant, free cancellation is available up to 48 hours before pick-up, and you see the security deposit and what the rental includes before you book.

Listings and support come in five languages, English, French, Spanish, Italian and Arabic, with WhatsApp and in-app concierge help. And if what you need on the Costa Blanca is not a car, the marketplace also covers vans, motorhomes and campervans where local supply exists. Against the big chains' airport desk, the difference is simple: what you sign is what you already saw.