A child seat in a hire car in Spain

A child seat in a hire car in Spain

Spain goes by height, not by age. A child must travel in an approved child seat until it is 135 centimetres tall, and it belongs in the back. That is stricter than many parents expect, it applies in full in a hire car, and getting it wrong costs two hundred euros and four penalty points. Below is exactly what applies and whether you are better off hiring a seat or bringing your own.

The rule: 135 centimetres

The Spanish traffic authority is brief about it: children must use a child restraint until they are taller than 135 centimetres. Not their age, not their weight — their height. The same authority also advises carrying on until 150 centimetres, because only then does the seat belt really sit properly across the body. That last part is advice, not an obligation.

In the front only in three cases

The child belongs in the back. It may travel in the front only if the car has no rear seats, if all the rear seating positions are already taken by other children, or if the seats cannot be fitted in the back. If a forward-facing seat is then used in the front, the airbag must be switched off.

Which standard, and why it matters

The applicable standard is R129, better known as i-Size. It works by height, just like the Spanish rule, and that makes it simple: if the seat matches your child’s height, you are fine. Older seats to R44 may still be used, but since September 2024 they may no longer be sold or imported. With R44 you still come across the old weight groups: group 0 up to ten kilos, 0+ up to thirteen kilos, I from nine to eighteen, and II and III from fifteen to thirty-six kilos.

Hire one or bring your own?

You can reserve a child seat with your hire car, but you pay for it locally to the hire company. Which seats are available and what they cost is set out per car in the specific rental terms — which is why no amount is given here. Do reserve in good time: at most destinations the number of seats is limited.

Bringing your own has two advantages that may be worth the lugging: you know which standard the seat meets and what condition it is in, and your child sits in something familiar. What an airline charges to carry a seat differs per airline; check that with your flight.

A taxi is the exception, a hire car is not

This causes confusion regularly. In a taxi a child under 135 centimetres may be carried in town without a seat, provided it sits in the back. Outside built-up areas and on the motorway that exception does not apply. For a hire car there is no exception at all: it is an ordinary passenger car and the rule applies in full.

What it costs if it is not in order

A child without a seat, or in the wrong one, costs two hundred euros and four penalty points. With a hire car there is something on top that weighs heavier than the fine: fines remain at your own expense, and in practice hire companies charge an administration fee for passing on your details. The Spanish consumer authority has since taken a firm line on that — see the driving rules in Spain.

See hire cars at Alicante Airport

More on car hire on the Costa Blanca

The full overview is at car hire on the Costa Blanca. What else you need to arrange at the desk is at the credit card and the deposit.

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