Jon-Bxl

Ive not had great experiences renting in Spain. They can be so pushy about the additional insurance, for example. I never take it as I have an annual policy covering the cost of damage etc. The annual policy is often cheaper than the additional insurance for a single rental period.

The Portuguese are much more sincere in general in my experience..

Jon

https://www.insurance4carhire.com/

MKABZ

Yes, I would feel more uncomfortable about renting in Spain, plus there would be the hassle of no transponder for Portugal, as we go across the border a lot, happy with Portugal. I also have an excess annual policy, it really is so much cheaper, you could pay the same in a matter of a few days for the price of the annual policy. Overall I find the companies in Faro don't bat an eye when you say you have your own policy. Only one time, there was one woman who didn't seem too happy and was trying to be a bit pushy, can't recall which company it was but it was one of the bigger companies up at the top.
Mary.

MKABZ

The Portuguese are much more sincere in general in my experience..

Jon
.................................................. .................................................. .........
They generally always seem nice, so much so that we feel quite bad when we then say we are staying in Spain and not Portugal.
Mary.

Jon-Bxl

I just think we are so lucky to have two countries+cultures on 'the doorstep'. Its probably our number 1 benefit of where we live, (for us.)

I love telling people that the closest resto outside our Spanish place (outside our development, and excluding service stations and the cafes at the industrial estate) ... Is in .... Portugal! We just choose which country we prefer on the day, and its a few mins drive

In fact if we ever decide to upgrade our home, being near a border will be far more important than say heading inland or much further away in either Spain or Portugal.

Best of both worlds! Its why we've missed it so much after 15months of lockdown issues!

Jon

MKABZ

Yes, we are lucky indeed with the choice of two countries. We were lucky enough to be out late October/early November, we had to cut our time short by a few days when Ryanair cancelled out flight, we managed to change our flight, which ended up being the last one out for that year.
I can understand that after 15 months you are desperate to return and see everywhere again. Hopefully no more messing around with requirement nonsense and we can all just have a nice time in the sun.
Mary.

Jon-Bxl

Thanks Mary. We are driving down next week as the borders are open to EU residents who have proof of vax 1 and 2. (Announced just last week)

We don't want to fly, and the car gives us the option to go as we want, and come back if there's any later problem. So not tied to flight and car rental schedules. Being retired is handy!

So we were able to quickly arrange the trip within a few days of us passing 14 days since vax2.'s (coming up tomorrow) 4 segments of +/-6 hours driving with hotel and restos booked. So we plan to enjoy the journey down too.

Already very excited! Lets hope the UK ease up a bit asap and UK based Esurians etc can get back. I heard that Huelva is in level 3 now so some restrictions may still be there on arrival.

Jon

MKABZ

That sounds like a great journey you are embarking on, hopefully quiet roads and nice scenery await you. We are flying over a week today, all things being equal. Looking forward to it immensely. I was hoping Portugal would do away with the need for a PCR test but time is running out for us with that as we will need tests done on Tuesday at the latest.
Mary.

olivia

Make the most of Sunday driving in France. Lorries are not allowed to use the roads unless they have a special permit.

Matty42

Thank you to everyone for your valued inputs and pointers, we are looking at flying into Faro and renting through our usual company Travel Rent for the first 2 weeks of August this year. Just need to see what our wonderful Government says in their next review/s before booking our flights. If all stays the same, then 4 x PCR Tests either end will bump up the costs but hey, sometimes it's worth it. Does anyone know of any restrictions at eh bridge driving from Faro into Ayamonte.

Salud!

Matt.

MKABZ

Matt,
I posted this on one of the other threads a few days ago.

"FYI.
As of Monday, Spain requires a diagnostic test, certificate of recovery or immunisation to enter the country by air, sea and land from those countries included in the Ministry of Health's risk list, which includes Portugal.
In a nutshell, Portugal say it is unfair to apply this to road transport and say Spain is in a worse epidemiological situation than Portugal. Portugal has threatened to reciprocate identical measures if they are not removed.

This came from a youtube channel which reports on all things Spanish."

No idea if they will go ahead with this and August is a long time away in the covid world, so much can change in that time.
Mary.

Matty42

Hi Mary

Thank you for your very helpful advice, we are looking at getting our PCR Tests done here in Leeds 72/48 hrs prior to flying out and going to VRDS for our homeward PCR tests 72/48 hrs before heading back to the UK, which is probably going to cost us more than our air fair but hey ho, some things are worth it. Can't wait (hopefully) to get out to IC and Ayamonte in August, as long as Boris and the boys give some of our freedom back!

Salud!

Matt.

Matty42

Hi Guys

I've just learned that Portugal are now accepting UK travelers who show a negative Lateral Flow Test as long as it's taken 24 hours prior to flying out.

This is free of charge here (I have several and test myself and family), however, I've not seen the News in the UK or the UK Government outlining this change, which does not surprise me one bit.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel...-b1865605.html

Matt.

MKABZ

We just booked our tests (PCR) on Tuesday and flew out on Thursday. I checked before booking the tests for any new information on testing prior to flying to Portugal and couldn't find anything at all. Most annoying as we could have saved about £60 for us both on the tests.
You mentioned the lat flow test being free of charge, but if you are talking about the NHS tests, these are not allowed to be used for travel - no money to be made in that for private companies!

MKABZ

Adding to my last message - I had seen the following on the Ryanair website which mentioned lat flow tests but as I couldn't confirm this anywhere else, I reckoned Ryanair had made a mistake.

• Entry Requirements: all travellers (older than 24 months) must present proof of a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) for SARS-COV-2 with negative result, done within 72 hours before departure or a rapid antigen detection test (RADT) for sars-cov-2 with negative result, done within 24 hours before departure. NHS PCR test results will not be accepted and should not be used. The test must display the full name of the passenger, the test date, the test type, and result confirmed as negative. For further info click here.

Anyway, we are here now and enjoying the weather, though it has been very windy today, hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

kazcharl

Hi Everyone,
Those of you who are going to CE from from Faro, I noticed on the passenger locator form for Portugal it is asking for an address in Portugal. There does not seem a way to put our address in CE ?
Has anyone found a way around this ? I really dont want to be going to Seville unless I really need to. Thank you.