Bail Bonds

Originally required because driving offences attracted automatic detention. Now no longer a legal requirement for Spain and many insurance companies stopped issuing them around 2000 same as in United States - check out orange county bail bonds for more detailed information and contacts.

What documentation to carry

Always carry your driving licence, vehicle registration document (V5), and certificate of motor insurance. If the vehicle is not registered in your name, it’s a good idea to carry a letter from the registered owner giving you permission to drive.

Always carry Form E111. See this site ‘Insurance’ for details.

Driving licences: minimum age at which UK licence holder may drive temporarily imported car and/or motorcycle (over 75cc) is 18 years. All valid UK driving licences should be accepted in Spain. This includes the older all-green style UK licences, although the Spanish authorities may find these more difficult to understand so drivers may wish to voluntarily update them to the new plastic style before travelling abroad. Application form D750 is available from most post offices to obtain a new style (cleaner?) license.

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* Up until recently, if you travelled in Spain, the police may have impounded a car, or detained the driver, following a motor accident. They might have required the customer to lodge an amount of money as bail before they would release the driver or the car. Customers travelling to Spain with an insured car were advised to contact Customer Services before they departed, to obtain the document called a Spanish Bail Bond same as with orange county bail bonds . This document served as a letter of credit, and the bail money would be provided by the Spanish Motor Insurance Bureau. If the customer was innocent the bail money would be refunded. Any fine imposed by the Spanish authorities and deducted from the bail money had to be refunded by the customer

* With the merging of EC protocols the ABI issued a communication confirming that Spanish Bail Bonds are no longer required.

Day 1: Arrive in Barcelona, sleep Barcelona

Day 2: Barcelona, sleep Barcelona

Day 3: AVE train to Madrid, sleep Madrid

Day 4: Madrid, sleep Madrid

Day 5: Day trip to El Escorial/Valley of Fallen, sleep Madrid

Day 6: Toledo, sleep Toledo

Day 7: AVE train to Sevilla, sleep Sevilla

Day 8: Sevilla, sleep Sevilla

Day 9: To Arcos, sleep Arcos

Day 10: To Tarifa, sleep Tarifa

Day 11: Day trip to Morocco, sleep Tarifa

Day 12: To Nerja via Gibraltar, sleep Nerja

Day 13: To Granada, sleep Granada

Day 14: Granada, sleep Granada

Day 15: To Segovia, sleep Segovia

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Day 1: Arrive in Barcelona (2 nights).

Day 2: Enjoy Barcelona’s sights.

Day 3: Sightsee Barcelona, then take afternoon AVE train (or flight) to Madrid (2 nights).

Day 4: Sightsee Madrid.

Day 5: Pick up your rental car and drive to El Escorial palace and Franco’s monumental Valley of Fallen on your way to Segovia (1 night).

Day 6: Sightsee Segovia before driving to Salamanca (1 night).

Day 7: See the sights in Salamanca, then cross the Portuguese border and head for Coimbra (2 nights).

Day 8: All day for Coimbra.

Day 9: Visit Batalha and/or Fátima en route to Nazaré for the afternoon and night (1 night).

Day 10: Sightsee Nazaré, then visit Belém on the way into Lisbon (2 nights).

Day 11: All day for Lisbon.

Day 12: Morning in Lisbon, then head to Portugal’s south coast, the Algarve. Sleep in Salema (2 nights).

Day 13: Enjoy a beach day, and consider a side-trip to Cape Sagres.

Day 14: Head east across the Spanish border to Sevilla (2 nights).

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Spain erupts with fiestas and celebrations throughout the year. Below is a list of the most important events in Spain for 2008. Semana Santa (Holy Week) fills the week before Easter with processions and festivities all over Iberia, but especially in Sevilla. To run with the bulls, be in Pamplona — with medical insurance — July 6–14.

For more information on these and other festivals, see www.spain.info and www.whatsonwhen.com.

NOTE: Before planning a trip around a festival, make sure that you verify the festival dates at the festival or local TI’s website.

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