Fancy trying your hand at speaking the language when on holiday in Lanzarote? Then check out Part 2 of our bluffers guide to speaking Spanish. Covering everything you need to know about hiring a car and touring the island.
Hiring a Car in Lanzarote
Car hire in Lanzarote starts from around €15 per day. And provides one of the best ways to tour the island and see everything that Lanzarote has to offer. The size of the island makes it easy to visit the main attractions in Lanzarote within the space of a few hours. All of the resorts have several car hire companies to choose from, with attractive rental deals for a wide variety of motors.
In order to hire a car, you will need to have a current driving licence, be over twenty-one years of age and will normally be asked to leave a cash deposit or your credit card details. In addition, you will probably be asked to show your passport.
The first thing to remember is that in Spain and the Canary Islands they drive on the right hand side of the road. Outside of the resorts, driving is often a pleasure as the roads are reasonably quiet and there are plenty of interesting places to visit.
Main Roads and Speed Limits
The main motorway in Lanzarote, the LZ2, links Playa Blanca, Puerto del Carmen and Costa Teguise to the capital of Arrecife and the airport. When driving from Puerto del Carmen to Costa Teguise, you need to take the ‘circunvalación’ which is the bypass that goes round Arrecife. This is signposted just after you pass Deiland shopping centre and has a left-hand exit off the dual carriageway.
The LZ2 has the only section of dual carriageway on the island, running between Tias and Arrecife and this has an upper speed limit of 100kilometres per hour. The vast majority of roads on the island have a limit of 80kmph, except in urban areas where speed limits range from 20 to 50 km.
Getting Lost and Asking For Directions
If you’re lost and need to ask directions, you can say, ‘Disculpa’ – ‘Excuse me’, ‘estamos perdidos’ – ‘we´re lost’. ‘Nos puede ayudar?’ – ‘Can you help us?’
To ask directions whilst you are out and about, the easiest way is to say ‘Donde está Timanfaya?’ (where is Timanfaya?). Or you can say ‘está correcta para Jameos del Agua?’ – ‘is this right for the Jameos del Agua?’
When the reply is ‘coja la próxima a la izquierda’ it means you need to take the next left. ‘Coja la próxima a la derecha’ is the next right turn. If you are told to ‘coja la segunda a la izquierda’ that will be the second turning on the left.
‘Siga todo recto’ is ‘drive straight on’. ‘A la redonda’ is ‘at the roundabout’, so if you are told to take the next right at the roundabout this is: ‘coja la derecha a la redonda’.
If you need to turn back or change direction, that is a ‘cambio de sentido’ or ‘da una vuelta’.
Petrol Stations
Whilst you are driving around you will probably need to refuel. Most of the garages on Lanzarote have petrol pump attendants, so you can ask them to fill the tank until it is ‘lleno’ (this is pronounced yey-no). Virtually all the hire cars on the island run on unleaded, which is ‘sin plomo’.
Meeting The Guardia Civil
If for any reason you are stopped by the Guardia Civil or the Policia Local, they will ask to see your licence, which is ‘carnet’ in Spanish. It is important to wear your seat belt whilst out and about, even if you are a passenger in the back, as the authorities are clamping down on this. The word for seat-belt is ‘cinturon’.
Other helpful tips
When Spanish drivers are approaching a zebra crossing and someone is crossing the road, they will slow down and use an indicator to let drivers behind know there is a pedestrian in front of them.
Useful vocabulary
Car – el coche
Brakes – frenos
Hand brake – freno a mano
Steering wheel – el volante
Lights – luces or alumbrado
Reverse – marcha atrás
Gearstick – la palanca
Clutch – el embrague
Tyres – neumaticos
Mirror – retrovisor
Key – la llave
To start the car – arranca el motor
To stop – para el motor
Breakdown – una averia
Motorway – autopista or carretera
Road – camino
Exit – salida
Roundabout – redonda
Speed – velocidad
Seat-belt – cinturon
