Help with a trip to Spain
Discussion
I'm organising a trip to Spain for a number of friends who regularly travel together. Ferraris and McLarens. If anyone can help with a few questions, I would appreciate it.
Route is Santander to Madrid then locations near to Granada, Marbellla, Córdoba, Salamanca, Bilbao. Mainly off autoroute.
So,
- how do the police police the roads? We drive sensibly in built up areas but may push it a little in quiet, twisty areas with no other people or traffic around.
- I have taken a look at various forums to get an idea of a good route and have a number of roads on the list, but any recommendations welcome
- We will cross that area below Madrid and down to Andalucia twice. I have heard that it is very quiet and fuel stations are sparse, are there 'must fill up' places?
- Punctures are always a concern, how easy is it to get replacement super car tyres (all modern cars)
Thanks for any assistance. Cheers
Route is Santander to Madrid then locations near to Granada, Marbellla, Córdoba, Salamanca, Bilbao. Mainly off autoroute.
So,
- how do the police police the roads? We drive sensibly in built up areas but may push it a little in quiet, twisty areas with no other people or traffic around.
- I have taken a look at various forums to get an idea of a good route and have a number of roads on the list, but any recommendations welcome
- We will cross that area below Madrid and down to Andalucia twice. I have heard that it is very quiet and fuel stations are sparse, are there 'must fill up' places?
- Punctures are always a concern, how easy is it to get replacement super car tyres (all modern cars)
Thanks for any assistance. Cheers
I've done the Spain trip twice 2 years running Santander to Malaga.
Halfway stop Salamanca awesome motorways we did put our foot down way over the limit, speed cameras are not regular. It posted well. We may have been lucky 2 cop bikes followed us into a Service station and fined one of us for a dodgy front plate, God knows what we were doing prior to that. There are plenty people fuel stops however some are a track off the motorway so don't leave too late.
The motorways are the best roads I've ever driven on and not very busy at all.
Seville is very busy my only grudge, take it easy in the port that's busy too and there's plod everywhere.
Halfway stop Salamanca awesome motorways we did put our foot down way over the limit, speed cameras are not regular. It posted well. We may have been lucky 2 cop bikes followed us into a Service station and fined one of us for a dodgy front plate, God knows what we were doing prior to that. There are plenty people fuel stops however some are a track off the motorway so don't leave too late.
The motorways are the best roads I've ever driven on and not very busy at all.
Seville is very busy my only grudge, take it easy in the port that's busy too and there's plod everywhere.
Not sure, seeing the thread about expelling my brand of car from this forum if I'm allowed to post!
Just back from 2 weeks around N Spain down as far as Madrid. No police issues but the dramatic reduction in people going fast on the motorways as compared to a few years ago was noticeable. Apparently (reading Spanish motoring sites) there has been a firm crackdown with far less leeway on speed and with potential imprisonment / ban / impounding of car for speeding in excess of the upper ends of the grave end of the table of fines (multas, in Euros) / points.
https://sede.dgt.gob.es/Galerias/tramites-y-multas...
And the limits of error allowed.
http://www.diariomotor.com/2014/04/09/sanciones-mu...
In some areas (e.g. near Bilbao) the fixed cameras are very clearly heralded and marked; in others, like Madrid, they are more subtle (though the overhead gantries usually warn you that they are near, and GPS also tells you) and my sister in law, who lives in Madrid says that she regularly sees queues of mainly local drivers being pulled by mobile camera units for spot fines for doing in excess of 50kph on dual carriageway, but 50 limit, roads adjacent to the motorway. There are also helicopters with high resolution cameras fining people for using mobiles and allegedly able to do speeding as well.
All that said, on more remote country areas with fantastic smooth, sweeping, almost deserted roads one is unlikely to see police.
There was 98 in most places I filled and the attendants often offered it but the F136 RB engine in my non-supercar
only needs 95.
Two more comments.
1) Remember you are meant to have one (according to AA) or two (according to S-I-L) hi-viz jackets, a warning triangle, preferably two according to the AA.
2) Many villages and towns now have vicious speed bumps and raised pedestrian crossings in the 50 or 40kph limits - for us, even in non-sport suspension mode, 20 was a more sensible speed to take when approaching those.
A few months ago, when in a Nissan Micra hire car, not the Maserati in Andalucia, I had an unmarked traffic car with uniformed driver, stuff on the dash and (unlit) blue lights behind grille hard on my tail in a 50 semiurban zone for about 500m. I think he was trying to push me into speeding as there was no other reason for him to do that and when he finally did overtake, he did the same to a local white van for a similar distance.
Enjoy the trip!
Just back from 2 weeks around N Spain down as far as Madrid. No police issues but the dramatic reduction in people going fast on the motorways as compared to a few years ago was noticeable. Apparently (reading Spanish motoring sites) there has been a firm crackdown with far less leeway on speed and with potential imprisonment / ban / impounding of car for speeding in excess of the upper ends of the grave end of the table of fines (multas, in Euros) / points.
https://sede.dgt.gob.es/Galerias/tramites-y-multas...
And the limits of error allowed.
http://www.diariomotor.com/2014/04/09/sanciones-mu...
In some areas (e.g. near Bilbao) the fixed cameras are very clearly heralded and marked; in others, like Madrid, they are more subtle (though the overhead gantries usually warn you that they are near, and GPS also tells you) and my sister in law, who lives in Madrid says that she regularly sees queues of mainly local drivers being pulled by mobile camera units for spot fines for doing in excess of 50kph on dual carriageway, but 50 limit, roads adjacent to the motorway. There are also helicopters with high resolution cameras fining people for using mobiles and allegedly able to do speeding as well.
All that said, on more remote country areas with fantastic smooth, sweeping, almost deserted roads one is unlikely to see police.
There was 98 in most places I filled and the attendants often offered it but the F136 RB engine in my non-supercar
only needs 95.Two more comments.
1) Remember you are meant to have one (according to AA) or two (according to S-I-L) hi-viz jackets, a warning triangle, preferably two according to the AA.
2) Many villages and towns now have vicious speed bumps and raised pedestrian crossings in the 50 or 40kph limits - for us, even in non-sport suspension mode, 20 was a more sensible speed to take when approaching those.
A few months ago, when in a Nissan Micra hire car, not the Maserati in Andalucia, I had an unmarked traffic car with uniformed driver, stuff on the dash and (unlit) blue lights behind grille hard on my tail in a 50 semiurban zone for about 500m. I think he was trying to push me into speeding as there was no other reason for him to do that and when he finally did overtake, he did the same to a local white van for a similar distance.
Enjoy the trip!
Edited by Revisitph on Saturday 17th September 13:59
Edited by Revisitph on Saturday 17th September 14:00
I've lived in Spain for 16 years now, so feel free to ask more questions. My take:
1) I have little trouble finding 98 octane. I can't promise that 100% of the stations will have them, but I've never had a problem finding it before I needed it
2) Fixed radar is indicated on the highways. If there is a sign saying "radar ahead", well, they aren't kidding
3) My fear is mobile radar, as they don't post signs about those. My philosophy is to check up on the fines for a given speed and drive accordingly. By that I mean that the fine for UP TO 149 km/hr in a 120 is €100. So the fine is the same for driving 130 k/hr as for driving 149, so if you're going to get written up, get your money's worth and drive 149! No points off your license, and if you pay in less than 30 days, a 50% discount. Above 150 it's €300 I think, and as always a 50% discount if you pay in 30 days. So check out the chart, decide how much you're willing to spend, and drive accordingly.
4) Passingly an unmarked car is another risk. They are out there, there are no secrets to detect them. Watch for extra antennas and cross your fingers?
It's a good time of year to be travelling - most of the summer vacationers are back at work and the weather should be good. Enjoy!
1) I have little trouble finding 98 octane. I can't promise that 100% of the stations will have them, but I've never had a problem finding it before I needed it
2) Fixed radar is indicated on the highways. If there is a sign saying "radar ahead", well, they aren't kidding
3) My fear is mobile radar, as they don't post signs about those. My philosophy is to check up on the fines for a given speed and drive accordingly. By that I mean that the fine for UP TO 149 km/hr in a 120 is €100. So the fine is the same for driving 130 k/hr as for driving 149, so if you're going to get written up, get your money's worth and drive 149! No points off your license, and if you pay in less than 30 days, a 50% discount. Above 150 it's €300 I think, and as always a 50% discount if you pay in 30 days. So check out the chart, decide how much you're willing to spend, and drive accordingly.
4) Passingly an unmarked car is another risk. They are out there, there are no secrets to detect them. Watch for extra antennas and cross your fingers?
It's a good time of year to be travelling - most of the summer vacationers are back at work and the weather should be good. Enjoy!
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