After living 4 years in Spain, and doing all kinds of road trips through Spain and across the Iberian Peninsula, here are the best tips and essential information I wish I knew before driving in Spain.

Plenergy is the cheapest gas station in Spain.

We always use Plenergy (formerly called Plenoil) in Spain, as it is by far the cheapest gas.

The gas stations are unmanned, so don't expect anyone to fill it for you or to pay inside.

These are simple gas stations with only a card payment machine and Plenergy can be found pretty much in every city and town in Spain.

Spain has right-sided traffic, and the highways don't differ much from any other right-sided traffic country, at least in Europe.

However, one thing to know is that if you need to turn left, there is not a sorting lane in the middle, but you need to sort right and turn right.

Then you will end up in a junction with traffic lights that allows you to turn left.

To be honest, this is slightly safer than simply turning left, it just might be confusing if you don't know it.

On highways some drivers also tend to drive really fast, as they are probably imagining we are on the German autobahn. But these kinds of drivers are the case in every country, so it's nothing unusual.

Driving in Spanish cities can get hectic, as roundabouts can suddenly have 4 lanes, and people might park on the side of the roundabout (yep, real thing).

These are my best tips and things to know for driving in cities in Spain:

Parking in Spain is similarly easy and hard.

Good news is that surprisingly many cities and towns have free parking, which is marked with white parking lanes.

Bad news is, of course, free parking spots may be tricky to find.

If you are going on a roadtrip, I would anyhow recommend checking this option, as hotel parkings are normally about 20€/night.

We have found free parking multiple times also in places like Granada during high season, Madrid and Valencia.

Another thing you need to know about parking in Spain is that sometimes there are some guys "helping with the parking". This means that there is a dude, or multiple dudes seemingly helping you find a parking spot, or getting it parked.

To be honest, most of the times these guys are much more of a distraction than actual help.

It is anyhow a good idea to give them some cash, as they may otherwise scratch your car.

This is not always needed, but read the energy of the people and rather be safe than sorry if they ask you money for the "help".

What you do need to know, about parking in Spain, is that breaking into cars is not unusual.

You should never leave any valuables to car, and especially never leave anything interesting visible.

Interesting can be for example a corner of laptop box, even if it is empty or filled with socks.

(I have experience of this as my car got broken into in Lloret de Mar, as the corner of the box of a Laptop was slightly visible from the car, as the pillow and clothes on top of it had moved an inch. There was nothing valuable in it though, but it was interesting enough to break in.

Also, rather parking into a busy area than some empty parking lot area.

It may seem tempting, as you think your car won't be hit by another car then, so it feels safe there, but it can rather be more easily broken into, as during the night there is nobody to see.

So don't leave any valuables in car and park in an area with some people passing, and you are already doing much better than many expats.

Just like in many other countries, there are speed cameras in Spain. Sometimes they are announced beforehand, and other times they are sneakily hidden.

Best way to deal with it is to go accoring to the speed limits.

If you want to know where the cameras are located, simply have the google maps navigation on, as it will indicate the cameras as well.

In general, I would recommend having the the Google maps navigation on, even if you are not constantly needing it, as it tells real-time about accidents, congestion, and road blocks.

Generally speaking, there are not many toll roads in Spain compared to its beloved neighbours France and Portugal.

Here you can see the main toll roads. However, to my knowing, the coastal toll road is not asking for payments anymore.

So generally speaking, there are not that many tolls, and when there is, the payments are not too big.

Once again, keep the Google maps navigator on to get the options with and without toll.

If you get a fine in Spain, it is better to pay asap, before the payment doubles.

If you have a Guardia civil approaching you, and asking a payment, it is a legit thing.

Only if it is a cash payment, it is dodgy,but otherwise best just to obey and pay.

You can also pay it afterwards. Normally the payment is cheaper for the first 20 days.

Youshoudl pay it as soon as possible, as afte the time period the amount doubles.

The payment process is a rather odd; you need to visit in person Caixabank where you can settle the payment at the invoice payment machine.

Other option is to call to the number on the invoice, and handle the bill via phone.

(I know, it is odd, we had to pay our first fine double as we could not figure that a regular bank payment does not work).

Now that we know all the basics how to stay safe in high speed and traffic, as well as when the car is parked in a city, let's get to the actual roadtrip tips for Spain.

Firstly, distances in Spain are long, and inland Spain is rather empty.

Normally there are gas stations within 60kms from each other, but in some areas, like Extremadura and Castila La Mancha, not much else.

Here you can see some distances in Spain, with estimated driving times and great pitstop ideas/things to see on the way.

Renting a car in Spain is quite cheap.

Of course, the price varies according to your wishes (eg. Insurance coverage, manual vs. automatic, size of the car etc.)

Best way to get the best rates is to browse from rental car comparison sites, which list all the big rental companies in one place.

We have mostly used Discovercars.com and Rentalcars.com and they work well in Spain.

For renting a car in Spain, the required age is 21 years.

Now that you are ready for driving in Spain, I will tell you some awesome roadtrip options.

Read the article: Best roadtrips in Spain.