Cheap car hire Malaga Blog
Malaga car hire tips and general advice

Málaga’s mayor, Francisco de la Torre, accompanied by his councillors Juan Ramón Casero (Mobility), Raúl López (Universal Accessibility) and Carolina España (Economy) presented today the access requirements for new transport certificates that will cover the necessity of mobility of two significant user groups. He announced that the access conditions to obtain such a ticket for persons with a disability equal or superior to 33 % will improve and the so-called “PMR ticket” will be valid for all local EMT buses, containing 50 rides or the multiple of this amount.

This new ticket is subsidised by 50% by the Area of Universal Accessibility (Área de Accesibilidad Universal), so that a person who applies for it will receive an aid equal to the half of the cost. The ticket price will be 16,12 €, resulting in an amount of approximately 0,32 € per ride. The innovation benefits about 1300 disabled persons that can profit immediately by the new ticket.

On the other hand, the mayor announced the implementation of the “Employment Help Ticket” (“Tarjeta Ayuda Empleo”), which will be totally free of charge. The beneficiaries of this coupon are unemployed inhabitants of Málaga who are registered in programs of the active job-seeking IMFE / MALAGA EMPLEO. According to estimations, more than 1000 persons will be able to benefit immediately from this new ticket that includes 50 rides per capita. The purpose is to help unemployed people who are searching actively for work or who take part in training courses.

The points system is having its second birthday this month. The free daily newspaper Qué! reports that since Spain instituted the points system in 2006, 4.1 million points have been taken away and 7,162 people have completely lost their licences. Points are lost by any number of reasons, including speeding, running red lights, driving without a seatbelt and drunk driving. During the course of this year, there have been 244 less deaths as consequence of driving accidents than last year, a 20% decrease.

Spanish lawmakers must see this as an opportunity to step up the safe driving campaign at the same time as they tweak other aspects of the traffic law. Up until now, new drivers have started with 8 points, while those who have driven for 3+ years started out with 12. Starting next July (2009), those who haven’t committed any driving infractions in 3 years will be rewarded with two additional points, bringing the maximum total up to 14. Keep up the safe driving folks… just because we get a few extra points doesn’t mean we should drive pedal to the metal now.

If you’re expecting to hire a car in Malaga or anywhere else in Spain really, consider yourself forewarned. First, the hard facts: recently reformed penal codes require an offence charge for drivers caught passing the speed limits by 60 km/h within city limits or by 80 km/h on the highway. This kind of charge can carry from 3 to 6 months jail time, no laughing matter to say the least. And even if you’re only speeding marginally, according to the Spanish points system, they’ll also drain your licence of between 2 and 6 points as well. (Drivers with a clean record generally start out with 12 points.)

Thought that was it? Wait, there’s more! Beginning yesterday, the government has implemented a two-week bout of radar checkpoints across the country. They’re setting them up on secondary highways, along with safety reminders on electronic panels and radio messages. In Malaga alone, they’re planning to control about 50,000 vehicles, an average of about 3,000 a day.

The Spanish authorities are doing a notable job of cracking down on irresponsible behaviour on the road, with the intention of reducing the number of accidents. So before you get into speed-demon mode behind the wheel of your car hire, think twice. Or even three times… cause it will certainly be worth your while!

This weekend, follow the signs to "La Feria de los Pueblos y las Ciudades de Málaga," your ticket to see and even try out some local flavours. Venue: the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos, the large exhibition building right off the highway in Malaga, near the intersection of the A-7 ring road and the Cartama highway. Entrance is free, and you’ll get a glimpse of the small-town life from around the Malaga province, including booths about bullfighting, flamenco and plenty of food samples. From the 180+ exhibitors, you’ll see typical olive oils, wines, cheeses, sausages and even more unique malagueño items like sweet wine, almond cakes, fig bread, raisins, olives and lard-cooked pork… and most of these you can try out! The fair opened on Thursday and continues until Sunday – open from 11am-8:30pm – and of course you can also use this chance to purchase these items and more. Besides the cultural, they’ve also made an effort to bring in a wider audience with offerings for youngin’s: a stand for playing Wii, a comic strip/book workshop, and a number of theatre and juggling acts. Nothing to lose, come check it out! Oh and if you need a ride, skip the uncertainty of Malaga’s taxis and call our partner MalagaTaxis.co.uk – a courteous, multilingual driver will get you there in a flash.

Did we think taxis might escape rising prices in the transport realm? Well, taxi rates are going up just like everything else. Of course that’s something almost expected nowadays to happen once a year. However, Malaga’s taxi companies aren’t just raising fees; they’ve also changed the pricing structure, eliminating a special category for weekends. Instead they’ve added a surcharge of 2 Euros across the board for late-night/early-morning trips (between 00:00 and 07:00), making these trips a minimum of 6 Euros now. Other notable increases are in the airport trip minimums and surcharges, which are summarized in these tables.

These changes take effect today, in time to capture the massive flow of tourists coming in at the start of Spain’s high season: Semana Santa, Easter’s Holy Week. Having said that, you can see how complicated the fees are, and not to mention the mess you can get into of cab drivers not accepting certain travellers. We don’t like surprises any more than you do when it comes to the bottom line or doggedly searching for a willing driver after arriving from a long journey. Give Cheap Car Hire Malaga a chance; we think you’ll enjoy the first-rate services at rock-bottom prices.