Car hire on the Costa Blanca

A hire car for the Costa Blanca

On the Costa Blanca a hire car is not a luxury but the key to the region. The mountain villages inland, the coves between Moraira and Jávea and the markets of Dénia are hard work by public transport and half an hour away by car. This page sets out what you need to arrange one: where you collect it, what is in the price, what you still pay locally, and which Spanish rules catch visitors out.

Where you collect the car

This coast has two airports, and the answer is almost always Alicante-Elche. From Moraira, Alicante is clearly closer than Valencia; only for Dénia and its surroundings does it make little difference. We do not offer car hire in the villages themselves: you collect the car at the airport and drive.

Those distances and driving times are estimates. No official source publishes them, so treat them as a range rather than to the minute. Where it says “not published” we could find no reliable figure, and we would rather not invent one.

For each airport we have looked up where the desks are, which level of the car park the cars are on, which companies sit inside the terminal and which run a shuttle, and how late they are open:

• Picking up a hire car at Alicante Airport
• Picking up a hire car at Valencia Airport

Hire cars at Alicante AirportHire cars at Valencia Airport

What the all-inclusive price covers

We work with Sunny Cars. This is what they say is included:

• All insurance: third-party liability with additional cover up to ten million euros, damage cover and theft cover
• Damage to glass, tyres, underbody and roof, and also the loss of the keys or the vehicle documents, plus recovery costs after an accident
• The excess is refunded — with the nuance that you pay it on the spot first and claim it back afterwards
• Unlimited mileage, and airport surcharges and local taxes
• Free cancellation up to an hour before the rental starts; changes are free up to 24 hours before
• A 24/7 emergency line, roadside assistance and towing costs. Do note that you are booking through the Dutch arm of Sunny Cars, so that helpline is a Dutch-language service

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.

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. How that works exactly and what is not allowed is at the credit card and the deposit.
• 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. The standards and the question of whether to hire or bring your own are at the child seat in a hire car.
• 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. What hire companies put in their own terms about this is at taking a hire car across the border.
• Traffic fines. Those are always yours.

The Spanish rules that catch visitors out

That 30 in town is not an exception but the norm: every street with one lane in each direction falls under it, and it is enforced by fixed cameras. Beyond that: the alcohol limit is 0.5 grams per litre, and 0.3 for anyone who has held a licence for less than two years. Holding your phone is not allowed even when you are stationary in a queue or at a red light, and that costs two hundred euros and six penalty points. A speed-camera warning in an app is allowed; a radar detector in the car is not.

Parking is read from the colour of the lines: white is free in principle, blue is paid visitor parking, green is regulated with priority for residents, a solid yellow line means no stopping and no parking, and a broken yellow line means you may stop briefly but not park. Times and tariffs differ per municipality — “free on Sundays” is not a national rule. In Alicante the paid zone applies on weekdays from 9 to 14 and from 16 to 20, and on Saturday from 9 to 14; in Benidorm Sundays and public holidays are free.

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. Finally, watch out for the low-emission zone in Alicante, in force since January 2025 and applying to hire cars too: you cannot simply drive into the inner ring, and doing so costs two hundred euros. The rules in full, with the fines, are at the driving rules in Spain.

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.

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. 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.

Tolls on the Costa Blanca

You pay no toll on the road from Alicante or Valencia to this coast. The AP-7 between Alicante and Valencia has been toll-free since 1 January 2020, when the concession expired. You will still find travel information calling the AP-7 a toll road here; that is out of date.

Where toll does still apply is the stretch of AP-7 south of Alicante, towards Murcia and Almería. That is the other direction. Watch out as well for two roads with almost the same name: the AP-7 is the coastal route past Benidorm, Calpe and Dénia, while the A-7 runs inland via Alcoy. Both are free, but you want the AP-7. Where toll does still apply, and why so much out-of-date information is circulating, is at tolls on the Costa Blanca.

Staying in Moraira?

Then our page on car hire in Moraira sets out exactly which exit to take, where to park the car at Calamora and what to know on arrival.

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.