Warning: Driving in Spain. Don't Get a Traffic Fine or You Will Get The Horn Twice!!

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One of the famous Osborne bulls alongside a Spanish highway. 
Photo by Gerry Dawes©2010 / gerrydawes@aol.com.

Warning:  Driving in Spain.  Be very careful driving in Spain.  There hidden cameras everywhere connected to radar.  When you go over the speed limit, they catch your license plate on camera.  On my trip with Michael Chiarello, we got hit with two 100 Euros fines, one as we were leaving the Basque Country and another around Albacete on our way to Madrid.  Each of the fines was 100 Euros, but that is not all of it, Hertz charges 30 Euros to your credit card as a fee for the fine!!!  But that is not all, there is also a 5.40 Euro VAT tax on the fee, so each fine was 100 Euros + 30 Euros + 5.40 Euros = 135.40 Euros or about $180 (with the exchange fees)!     So the Spanish government fines you, then Hertz fines you.  Oh, yeh, and there was the 40 Euro parking for parking on a Saturday afternoon in a spot where the hotel concierge said it was okay.  And another 35.40 Euro Hertz fine for that on top of the parking fine.  The total fines cost more that the rental car!!  Can anyone else smell RIP-OFF?