Major crisis’ in Spanish car hire fleet leads to ‘drastic’ shortage of summer hire cars, warns leading broker

Holidaymakers travelling to Spain this Summer face being left stranded without transport if they leave booking their hire car until the last minute – because economic conditions have led to a drastic shortage of hire cars in the country, according to one of the UK’s leading car hire brokers.

Economy Car Hire is describing the situation as a ‘major crisis’, with a combination of slashed car production and a major credit squeeze in Spain leading to a reduction of around 50 per cent in the size of the Spanish hire fleet for 2009.

The broker is warning that those leaving booking their car hire late, or even relying on hiring a car when they arrive in Spain, are likely to be left without transport.

"The Spanish car hire industry is facing a major crisis," said Rory Sexton, Managing Director of Economy Car Hire. "Spain has been particularly badly hit by the credit crunch, and the result has been that hire companies have found it very difficult to raise the finance to equip their fleets – a situation which has been made worse by big cuts in production across the whole European motor industry."

Spain is experiencing one of the deepest recessions of all the western European countries, with GDP falling 1.8 per cent in the first three months of 2009, and unemployment running at over four million – or 17.4 per cent of the workforce. The OECD predicted on 24th June that Spanish GDP will fall by 4.2 per cent in 2009.

"Although fewer Britons are travelling to Spain this year, the reduction in the car hire fleet is so drastic that there is sure to be a shortage of hire cars during the whole summer," said Mr Sexton. "The advice is clear: if you need a hire car for your Spanish Summer holiday, book it as early as possible."

Economy Car Hire operates fully-inclusive car hire services throughout the Spanish mainland, Balearics and Canary Islands, with no insurance excess (hence no collision damage waiver necessary), unlimited mileage, free additional driver, no airport surcharges, and included theft loss waiver.

The company also operates in over 20 countries worldwide, including Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Madeira, Malta, Croatia, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and Greece.