Copyright euroweeklynews
The 90-day rule brought in for Schengen areas continues to have its complications for those Brits who own holiday homes in Spain. And now, UK drivers’ cars are being towed away. There have been crackdowns on foreigners owning property they temporarily rent out to holidaymakers in their absence, along with online registry systems that are said to be difficult to use. Those systems are accused of being problematic and often not functioning properly; and now, it seems where the owners leave their vehicles could lead to towing too. Parking cars in street – UK holiday home owners losing theirs The main issue? Climate. In various parts of Spain, but particularly the southern coast like Malaga province, where the area tends to enjoy an average of 335 sunny days a year, the little rain there is won’t keep your car clean. In fact, it will, more often than not, leave it in an even worse-looking condition and cake it in dust and mud. And the culprit? “Calima.”. Calima is that heavy dust blown over the Mediterranean from the Sahara Desert that settles on everything it passes. On the odd occasion it can be even worse. In March 2023, the phenomenon reared its muddy head, leaving places in the Malaga province caked in 10 centimetres of our clay, muddying pristine pueblos blancos, and causing €100s of thousands in clean-up operations. Long-term street parking banned – holiday home zones targeted A frequent occurrence in coastal towns in the south of Spain, not least in neighbourhoods which are holiday home areas, is that cars which appear to have been parked at the side of the road for too long are towed away to the municipal compound and eventually disposed of. The vehicle owners then return to Spain to find their car is no longer where they left it. The law states, as it does in many countries, that street parking must only be temporary, and so ones that are covered in dust indicate that the vehicle has outstayed its welcome and is deemed then to be abandoned. What constitutes abandonment of a vehicle may be subjective depending on the local authority and where exactly it is parked. But one thing that is certain is that it is going to cost the owner a considerable amount in fines and recovery costs. According to local Benalmadena resident, Naz, “It’s an everyday occurrence. Especially at this post-holiday period of the year. People think it’s OK to leave the car parked in the street until the next time they visit, but often they return to find it has been taken by the local police.” In 2023, Madrid removed 1,162 abandoned vehicles, while Ceuta removed 95 in just the first half of 2025. Figures are unclear for the Costa del Sol town of Benalmadena, but according to local residents, tows are a frequent sight. Local ordinance says “2 months”, but who can say how long a car has been parked in the street other than its level of dustiness? The solution? If you don’t have a garage space, pay the extra to leave your car in an official long-stay car park. It will definitely be worth it in the end.
