Since I lived here in the early 70's Spain's cars have gotten much cheaper, wider, better, and there's a greater selection. Back then, the most popular cars were SEATs, which were FIATs built in Spain. Today, SEAT is associated (and shares components) with Volkswagen. Several other makes are manufactured in-country. Some models are even exported to other Common Market countries. Fiat, Ford, Nissan, Citroen and Peugeot have factories here, to name a few.

New! Improved! - If you're old enough to have traveled in Europe 25 or 30 years ago you'll remember the little Fiat 500. They were everywhere. They had an engine with half the displacement of a normal Harley motorcycle. Well, they've come a long way, baby. That yellow car to the left is a Cinquecento today. It's one of the least expensive cars sold here and now has a 899 cc engine!

Size Matters - Most cars sold here would fall into the "subcompact" category in the US. A Honda Accord station wagon looks like a pretty large car compared to most. But Mercedes and BMW sell a few cars around here to the more well-to-do and status-conscious folks.

Taxes, Taxes, Taxes - Fuel costs are high all over Europe and most folks opt for small-displacement engines. The Spanish tax structure encourages it with very high fuel taxes and by taxing cars with high-displacement engines at a higher rate. For cars with gasoline engines, the tax jumps from 7% to 12% when the engine size gets to 1600 cc. For diesel cars, the tax increases when the displacement hits 2000cc.

Lots of Diesels - Diesel engines are popular, partly because diesel fuel is cheaper than gasoline. The price difference between unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel isn't as large as it used to be, but it's still significant. Just about all cars sold nowadays use fuel injection. Many, if not most, diesel engines are also turbocharged to bring their performance up to that of gasoline engines of equivalent displacement.

Our Car - We bought a Peugeot station wagon with a 1900cc diesel engine. It must be about the same length as a Honda Civic. It cost about 2.5 million pesetas. That was the equivalent of about € 15,000 in 1997 - which is about $18,800 today with the current lousy exchange rate. So far, we're getting about 35-36 mpg with it. In the US, it would be classified as a subcompact car, but it's comfortable enough for us. I once owned a 1972 Renault R12 here and it rode like a heavier car. This Peugeot does, too.

Caveat Emptor - I don't have any information on used cars, but considering the way people here drive, you might not want to risk buying one unless you knew the previous driver well.

Here's something you won't see on a freeway.. There's a category of motor vehicles specifically intended for non-highway driving and that, for years, didn't require that the drivers be licensed^(*). They were popular among old folks out in the country who couldn't or wouldn't go through the agony and expense of getting a license. We see one every once in a while on our way into town and we generally refer to it in "Bollingese" as a NARC, which is short for "Not a Real Car."

The two examples above are typical of the two-seaters I see around here. Officially, they're designated as "quadricycles" with limited engine sizes - 49cc displacement for gasoline engines and 5.4 horsepower for diesels. I haven't been able to find out just what their other legal technical limitations are but I do know that their top speed is limited so that they can't be driven on major highways. But we see them on the backroads between where we live and the nearest towns.

Since the roads around here are curvy and hilly until you get close to town, it can be exasperating to find yourself driving behind one going 18-25 MPH and there's no place to pass for the next couple of miles. (On the other hand, I've had the same experience behind old men driving Mercedes sedans.)

For the people who buy these things, I guess they're better than their next best form of transportation.

August 2008 Update
^(*) As of September 2008, the law requires that a license is required to drive a "NARC."