Spain

We have had a holiday home for many years in Andalusia, Spain.

I thought in this blog, I would give you my experience and views of travelling to Spain using the many route options and modes of travel. We mostly take our two Pomeranian dogs – Milo & Romeo – but not always.

We have European passports for our 2 x dogs and providing their Rabies vaccinations are up to date, it is straight forward to take them into Europe. Just a note, vaccinations must be done in Europe and recorded on their EU passports. A British vet can give the rabies vaccination, but it cannot be entered onto their passport. If you do not have an EU passport for your pet, you must get an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) that is issued within 10 days of your travel. These cost about £200 per dog. The only other thing you need before bringing your pet back to the UK is a Tapeworm treatment for each pet – you cannot return to UK for 24 hours after treatment but must return within 5 days of the treatment. This is for any pet, whether you have an EU passport or an AHC.

Until we retired in 2024, we have been restricted on when we can come to Spain. We always came for Easter and during the summer, so any other trip throughout the year was a bonus.

Just a note on Fuel costs. It was always the case for many years that fuel across the channel was cheaper than the UK. This has not been the case since the pandemic. 2024 prices per litre, for Unleaded petrol is approx.; UK £1.45 litre; France Euros 2.00 litre; Spain Euros 1.78 litre. – We always fill the car before departing the UK. Note: Diesel is cheaper than Unleaded on the Continent where in the UK it is more expensive.

Option 1: Flights from Manchester to Malaga or Gibraltar, hire care for 2 x weeks, dogs in care in UK.

Car Park Manchester Airport

We have tried multiple options here but now tend to use the official Airport Meet & Greet. I say official, as there is another company who offer a Meet & Greet service, but they take and bring your car back to you from ‘off site.’ Once we suspected they had been using the car whilst we were away. The main reason we do not use them is that they often keep you waiting to collect your car for well over an hour.

There are the Long Stay car parks (Jet Parks) where you park and catch a bus. These are cheaper options but when it is raining in Manchester it can take time waiting for a pickup bus or collection bus.

Estimated Prices 2024: Meet & greet £135.00 / Jet Parks £125.00 (2 x weeks)

You can get the above cheaper by booking in advance.

Dogs in Care

We will not put our dogs in kennels. Instead, they stay with friends who also have a dog. We pay £32 per night for the two dogs. £448.00 for two weeks

 Flights

Price of flights varies, depending on when you travel and when you book. Since the pandemic, the cheap flights are few and far between. Bargains can still be had if you are flexible with when you can go.

We also do not take luggage on flights and, we do not book specific seats. We opt for the random seat allocations. This means we do not tend to sit together but the flight is just over two ½ hours, so not a problem. Both things keep the prices of flights down.

Flights from Manchester to Malaga for two weeks in August tend to cost around £270 each, return. Luggage and seat booking will cost more. £540 for two for two weeks return

Flights to Gibraltar are a little more expensive. Two weeks in August tend to cost around £300each. Luggage and seat booking will cost more. £600 for two for two weeks return

Hire Car

Hiring cars in Spain can be a mine field. So too, can be the ‘Price Comparison’ sites. Be incredibly careful when using these as they advertise cheap hire cars BUT you will have to provide security deposits, often of several thousand Euros. If there is a scratch on the vehicle, they will deduct hefty fees from your security deposit. There are lots of horror stories of this happening on the internet.

Similarly, if you pay the additional fees for added insurance with ‘Price Comparison’ sites, the insurance is with the ‘Price Comparison’ site and NOT the hire car company. The hire car company will still take a deposit AND take a substantial deduction if you scratch the car. You then must make a claim from the ‘Price Comparison’ site. Again, lots of horror stories on the web about this.

I ALWAYS book directly with the hire car company, and I ALWAYS take the enhanced insurance which means NO security deposit, Unlimited Mileage, Free second driver and no worries if you damage the car – or more likely in Spain, someone else damages the car.

Final advice, shop around BUT with the local car hire companies and not the Price Comparison sites and pay for the full insurance package.

In Malaga, we tend to use Delpasso Car Hire. You meet them on exit from the airport where they will direct you to a van/minibus. They then take you to their site off the airport, which takes about 10 minutes.

Cost for 2 weeks in August 2024 for an economy sized care in Malaga, with full insurance is around £400.

Gibraltar is slightly different where you need to walk over the border from the airport into Spain to the Car Hire offices. This is quite straight forward to walk through Customs into La Linea, Spain. It will take about 10/15 minutes depending on which car hire company you use.

We often use Espace Car Hire in La Linea

Cost for 2 weeks in August 2024 for an economy sized care in Gibraltar, with full insurance is around £400.

Owning a Car in Spain

We have previously owned a car based in Spain for a couple of years. First, we had a British registered car which we kept (in our absence) in a car park near Malaga airport. This cost Euros 15 per week or Euros 780 per year.

This became a problem. Legally you can only keep a foreign registered vehicle in Spain for 6 months, after which, you must register it with Spanish plates and pay the import duties. This runs into several thousands of Euros. You also do not have the facility to do an annual vehicle MOT, which means you need to return it to the UK annually.

We brought ours back to the UK and bought a Spanish Registered car. However, we found that the amount of time that we spent in Spain, this became an expensive option. Car Park costs, annual maintenance costs, and Inspección Técnica de Vehículos (ITV). We kept the car for only a year before selling it. A cheaper option was to hire a car because of our limited time spent in Spain.

Approximate Total cost of Option 1.

Flights £540.00

Car Hire: Total £400.00

Airport Parking: £135.00

Care for Dogs: £448.00

(Approximate & based on 2024 prices) Total Cost of Option 1: (Flying to Malaga Airport) £1,523.00 (Flying to Gibraltar Airport) £1,583.00

Option two; Drive from Brighouse (West Yorkshire) to Andalucía in own car for 2 x weeks, dogs come with us.

Mode: Car – Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 SXI – passengers - Elaine and I and 2 x mates – Milo & Romeo

Total miles – Round trip: 3,200 miles

See introduction for dog travel documents needed.

We have done this trip often. We have done it with 1,2- or 3-night stopovers. Now we are retired and have more time, we will take longer. I will base the costings on a 1 x night stop over which was our most recent trip. As this trip travels through France, you do have quite a few road tolls and only a couple in Spain if you stay off the ‘AP’ (pay) roads and stick to the ‘A’ roads.

We drive from Brighouse in West Yorkshire down to Folkstone for the Channel Tunnel crossing. The return cost for the Channel Tunnel is £320 with the 2 x dogs. They charge £22 each dog, each way. This leg of the journey is 275 miles in the car.

You can save about £75 by going on the ferry to Calais from Dover but allow about an extra one ½ hours on your journey.

The quickest route is to head south in France down the west coast. We drove for a couple of hours to Rouen in France which was 132 miles from Calais. We then booked an IBIS budget hotel which cost us £75.00 with no additional charge for the dogs to stay overnight.

The day after we left early and drove for 22 hours straight to Andalusia. A tiring drive but we wanted to just get there.

The route takes you through Bordeaux, Bilboa and Madrid

Approximate Total cost of Option 2.

Channel Tunnel: £320.00

Tolls: £300.00

Fuel: £700.00

Hotel: £75.00

Total Cost of Option 2: £1,395.00

Option three; Drive from Brighouse (West Yorkshire) to Portsmouth in own car for 2 x weeks, dogs come with us – Ferry to Bilboa or Santander – drive across Spain.

Mode: Car – Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 SXI - Elaine and I and 2 x mates – Milo & Romeo

Total miles – Round trip: 1820 miles

See introduction for dog travel documents needed.

This is the option we use most of all.

We drive from Brighouse in West Yorkshire to Portsmouth to catch the Brittany Ferries boat. This leaves either around 8pm going to Bilbao or 10pm to Santander so normally a straightforward drive provided the M1 & M25 are free flowing! The drive distance is 260 miles to Portsmouth.

On board we always take the car, 2 x dogs in a ‘Pet Friendly’ cabin, Elaine, and I.

The trip down to Spain on the ferry is a 2-x night crossing and it docks at 8am. So, you arrive 2 x days after departure. The return trip is a 1 x night crossing but arrives late in Portsmouth. The day after you depart.

In days gone by, they included evening meal in the price of the ferry. They no longer do this, and the price is £30 per head in the pleasant restaurant.

The price for the ferry return is around £1,200 at Easter but about £1,500 in summer. You can get the price down on the accommodation. The Pet Friendly cabins are normally the most expensive at around £200 each way. The cheapest is an airline type seat at £15. You will need to book kennels on the boat if you do not have a pet friendly cabin.

By the time you arrive, disembark, clear customs, and let the dogs have a stroll we find it is around 10.00am before we hit the road.

Heading to Andalusia, I try to a drive of three ½ hours, break and refuel, 3 hours, break and refuel then a final stint of around 2 hours with a stop at the Supermarket for essentials.

If you take the ferry to Santander, the quickest route to Andalusia is via Seville and is 650 miles long.

If you take the ferry to Bilboa, the quickest route to Andalusia is via Madrid and Malaga and is 640 miles long. This route has 2 x tolls as you come out of Bilboa of around £10.

On the return leg, we leave early and get to Santander or Bilboa in time for the ferry home.

Approximate Total cost of Option 3.

Ferry: £1,200 Easter/£1,500 Summer

Fuel & tolls: £600.00.

Total Cost of Option 3: £1,800.00 Easter/ £2,100 Summer

Option four; Drive from Brighouse (West Yorkshire) to Paris in own car for 2 x weeks, dogs come with us – Fly to Malaga – hire car in Malaga.

Mode: Car & Plane – Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 SXI, Elaine and I and 2 x mates – Milo & Romeo

Total driving miles – Round trip: 926 miles

See introduction for dog travel documents needed.

We have done this trip once and would do it again.

We drive from Brighouse in West Yorkshire down to Folkstone for the Channel Tunnel crossing. The cost for this is £320 with the 2 x dogs. They charge £22 each dog, each way. This leg of the journey is 275 miles.

You can save about £75 by going on the ferry to Calais from Dover but allow about an extra one ½ hours on your journey.

Drive from Calais to Paris and stay overnight. Calais to Orly airport in Paris is 188 miles. Tolls cost c £80 return. We normally stay in an Ibis Budget hotel for about £85.00, with no charge for the dogs, and near the airport we are flying from.

The day after we park the car in a long-term car park for the 2 x weeks at a cost of around £150.00, who then take you in their van to the airport.

Unlike the UK, in the EU, you can take your pets on the plane with you inside the cabin. There is a size limit of the dogs, which is around 5kg in weight – so small dogs. You must put them in pet carriers that will go on the floor in front of you when taking off and landing. The dogs must stay inside the carriers for the whole flight and are not allowed to get out. Our 2 x dogs were well behaved with only minor grumbling after about 2 hours. The flight is just over 2 hours from Paris.

On arrival in Malaga, we hired a car. See section on Hire cars from Malaga under Option 1

Going home is the reverse trip.

Approximate Total cost of Option 4.

Flights with dogs: £450.00

Channel Tunnel: £320

Car Hire: Total £400.00

Long Term Parking Paris: £150.00

Fuel and Tolls: £360.00

(Approximate) Total Cost of Option 4: £1,680.00

Option five; Drive from Brighouse (West Yorkshire) to Paris in own car for 2 x weeks, dogs come with us – Train to Malaga – hire car in Malaga.

Mode: Car & Train – Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 SXI, Elaine and I and 2 x mates – Milo & Romeo

Total driving miles – Round trip:  926 miles

See introduction for dog travel documents needed.

We did not do this trip. We booked it, then Lockdown occurred, and we had to cancel it.

The plan was to drive to Paris, take the train down to Malaga then hire a car. The reason we had to drive to Paris was, whilst dogs are allowed on French and Spanish trains, they are not allowed on the Eurostar Train from London to Paris.

We planned on driving from Brighouse in West Yorkshire to Folkstone for the Channel Tunnel crossing. The cost for this is £320 with the 2 x dogs. They charge £22 each dog, each way. This leg of the journey is 275 miles.

You can save about £75 by going on the ferry to Calais from Dover but allow about an extra one ½ hours on your journey.

Drive from Calais to Paris and stay overnight. Calais to Paris is 188 miles. Tolls cost c £80 return. We normally stay in an Ibis Budget hotel for about £85.00, with no charge for the dogs.

The day after we park the car in a long-term car park for the 2 x weeks at a cost of around £150.00.

You then catch the Metro to PARIS GARE DE LYON station where we were going to catch the 10.12am to BARCELONA SANTS station on the SCNF train. This is a fast train that takes 6 hours 41 minutes (arriving in Barcelona at 16.53). Two second-class seats cost Euros 158.00 one way. Additional charge of Euros 8 for each dog. Total cost of Euros 174 one way. This is for Elaine & I and the 2 x dogs. NB: Prices were in 2020 and like all tickets for travel, it depends on when, and how close to the trip you book.

The dogs must be kept on a lead and make sure you empty their bladders before getting on the train!

We booked an overnight hotel stop at the MH Barcelona Station Hotel, which was quoted as £100 for the night (2020 prices) plus £30 for the 2 x dogs. We would then go for a walk and eat. Spain is great for dogs, where many allow you to take dogs into restaurants.

The train from Barcelona Sants to Malaga leaves at 05.50am, so an early start. The journey time takes a total of 7 hours and 22 minutes, including a change of train with a wait of 1 hr and 22 minutes in Madrid. Just enough time to stretch the legs and the boys to have a pee. The cost of this leg was Euros 170 for two tickets, and you must buy a ticket for the dogs at Euros 10 each. Total for this leg is Euros 190 one way. NB: Prices were for 2020 and like all tickets for travel, it depends on when and how close to the trip you book.

On arrival in Malaga, we would hire a car. See section on Hire cars from Malaga under Option 1

The return trip was identical with different timings for trains.

Bookings for trains were done on SCNF and OUI, however some of the generic sites also allow international bookings like Ninja and Trainline

Approximate Total cost of Option 5.

Trains with dogs: Euros 728.00 c£630.00 NB: Prices were for 2020 and like all tickets for travel, it depends on when and how close to the trip you book.

Channel Tunnel: £320

Hotels: £430.00

Car Hire: Total £400.00

Long Term Parking Paris: £150.00

Fuel and Tolls: £360.00

(Approximate) Total Cost of Option 5: £2,290.00

Cheapest to most expensive option.

Option two £1,395.00

Option one £1,523.00 Malaga/ £1,583.00 Gibraltar

Option four £1,600.00

Option three £1,800.00 Easter/ £2,100.00 Summer

Option five £2,290.00