Car hire at Alicante Airport

Picking up a hire car at Alicante Airport

Nine out of ten travellers to this coast land at Alicante-Elche. Collecting a hire car here is straightforward, as long as you know where to go: the desks are in the arrivals hall, but the car itself is in the car park next door, and not every company is inside the terminal. Below is what we were able to check with Aena, the airport operator, and with the hire companies themselves.

Where the desks are

According to Aena, the airport operator, all car hire desks are on floor 0 in the arrivals hall of the terminal itself, in the area officially called Zona rent a car – Llegadas. Alicante has a single passenger terminal, so there is nothing to choose between.

The cars are not next to the desks but in car park P1, a minute away on foot through a covered walkway. Which level depends on the company. Confirmed by the companies themselves: Sixt level 4, Avis level 1, OK Mobility level 2. For the others we found no reliable figure, so ask at the desk and follow the Rent a Car signs.

Who is in the terminal, and who is not

Aena lists eight companies with a desk at the airport: Avis, Centauro, Europcar, Goldcar-InterRent, Hertz-Firefly, OK Mobility, Record Go and Sixt.

There are also companies outside the airport that run a shuttle. Drivalia picks up at bus stops 1 to 3 on level minus two, about three minutes away by bus; that is on their own site. Click Rent is off-airport too, but we found their pick-up point only in a source that is not official. No complete list of off-airport companies is published anywhere, so we are not going to pretend to give one.

Worth knowing if you book by name: Centauro and Record Go are inside the terminal here, but at Valencia Airport they sit outside it with a shuttle. The same name does not mean the same arrangement.

How late can you collect?

Aena does not publish opening hours. This is what the companies say themselves:

For Centauro, Europcar, Goldcar-InterRent and Record Go we found no opening hours at all. Three things we can back up: always give your flight number when you book, so the company can allow for a delay; OK Mobility is the only one we found open after 01:00, and then only with a confirmed booking; and Avis offers a key box at the car park office outside opening hours. Whether others do the same is not published.

You will sometimes read that no desk is open after midnight. That is not correct — Sixt and OK Mobility publish later hours. But with a night flight, do not count on luck: arrange it in advance.

See hire cars at Alicante Airport

From the airport to the coast

From the airport you follow the signs for the A-7 and AP-7 northbound, towards Valencia and Benidorm. After that it is a matter of taking the right exit:

For Moraira it is exit 63, signposted Teulada, Benissa and Calpe, then the N-332 and the CV-743 into Moraira. There is no dedicated AP-7 exit for Teulada or Xàbia yet; the Spanish government is working on a new junction.

You pay no toll on this route. The AP-7 between Alicante and Valencia has been toll-free since 1 January 2020. The stretch that is still tolled lies south of Alicante, towards Murcia and Almería — the opposite direction. Older travel information that treats this as a toll road is out of date.

Those distances and driving times are estimates. No official source publishes them and the figures that do exist contradict each other to the minute, so treat them as a range.

What you still pay at the desk

This is the part most websites skip, and it is exactly where things go wrong.

• The deposit. In Spain most companies require a credit card in the main driver’s name. The amount is blocked rather than charged, and releasing it can take up to thirty days. On some cars it may be paid in cash or with a suitable debit card, and Sunny Cars has a separate service for it: No Deposit, to be booked up to five days before pick-up with registration up to 48 hours before.
• A second driver. Not included in the all-inclusive price as standard. Every driver must be named on the contract and present at pick-up with a licence and identification; if someone drives who is not on it, damage is not covered.
• A child seat. You reserve it in advance but pay for it locally. In Spain a child restraint is required up to 135 centimetres in height, and the child belongs in the back.
• A cross-border surcharge. France or Portugal is possible, but you arrange it when you book. If you do not and you go anyway, the insurance lapses. Morocco is not allowed.
• Traffic fines. Those are always yours.

A driving licence issued in an EU or EEA country is valid in Spain and you do not need an International Driving Permit. If yours was issued elsewhere, check before you travel. The fuel policy is fair: you return the car with the same fuel level it had when you collected it. If the tank is only half full at pick-up, have that written on the contract.

The V-16: check this before you drive off

Since 1 January 2026 the orange roof beacon, the V-16 conectada, has been the only legal way in Spain to mark a stationary vehicle. The warning triangle has been withdrawn. The beacon has its own SIM card and reports your location to the traffic authority when you use it; you need no phone and no subscription for it.

Why this concerns you: a hire car has Spanish plates and therefore falls under the rule, and the driver is responsible for what is in the car. If the beacon is missing, that is a fine of eighty euros. So check at pick-up whether it is there, and have it noted if it is not. If you arrive in your own foreign-registered car, the opposite applies: you may keep your warning triangles.

While you are at it, check that there is a high-visibility vest in the cabin rather than in the boot. You put it on before you step out at a stop, by day and by night; not wearing it costs two hundred euros and four penalty points.

Where you go from here

If you are staying in Moraira, our page on car hire in Moraira says which exit to take and where to park the car at Calamora. The full overview is at car hire on the Costa Blanca, and the comparison with the other airport at car hire at Valencia Airport. What to expect on the day you arrive is on arrival and departure.

Coming to Moraira? We rent out an apartment and a penthouse in the centre ourselves, within walking distance of the beach, the harbour and the terraces, with a shared pool and garden. At prices and availability you choose your dates and see the price straight away — you book directly with us, with no middleman and no booking fee.