Daily car rental

Daily car rental in Madrid starts at €14 per day, with 24 cars on this page across Economy, Electric, Convertibles and Comfort classes. We deliver the car to you in Madrid and agree every booking with a manager.

What a day of car rental in Madrid costs with Rent-Trip

Our daily rates run from €14 to €41 per day across the 24 cars we keep on this page.

Daily rates by class

What a week or a month of daily hire costs

A week starts at €84 and a month at €294. Those figures follow the same per-day rate as a single day — a week is charged as six days and a month as twenty-one, so the longer you book, the less each day works out to. The deposit and any excess are set out in the rental agreement, so ask the manager for both figures before you confirm.

Where the €14 day sits against the rest of the range

The cheapest day and the dearest day on our list differ by €27, which is more than the cheapest car costs for a day on its own. Economy holds 18 of the 24 cars, so the low end of the range is where most of the choice is — the Smart Fortwo at €14, the Peugeot 108 at €17, the Hyundai i10 at €18 and the Kia Picanto at €19 all sit inside a €5 band. Electric starts at €30 with the Citroen e-C3, the single Convertible is the Fiat 500C at €30, and the one Comfort car is the Mini One at €41.

• Electric: 4 cars from €30 to €35 a day, all automatic — Citroen e-C3, Fiat 500e, Renault Zoe, Peugeot e-208.
• Convertibles: one car, the Fiat 500C, at €30 a day with four seats and a manual gearbox.
• Comfort: one car, the Mini One, at €41 a day with four seats and a 1.5 L engine.

Picking your daily rental car in Madrid by class, seats and gearbox

The class decides the price long before the badge on the bonnet does. Rent-Trip holds 24 cars on this page in four classes: Economy from €14 a day, Electric from €30, a single Convertible from €30 and a single Comfort car from €41. Seats run 2, 4 and 5, fuel is petrol, hybrid or electric, and the gearbox is manual on most of the fleet and automatic on the four electric cars. Decide how many people and how much luggage travel with you, then match that to a class — not the other way round.

Small cars for city driving and parking

Step up and the Smart Forfour takes 4 seats at €16, the Peugeot 108 4 seats at €17, and the Hyundai i10 4 seats at €18; all three are petrol manuals with front-wheel drive except the Forfour, which drives the rear wheels.

Automatic and electric options for a day

Our four Electric cars — Citroen e-C3, Fiat 500e, Renault Zoe and Peugeot e-208 — all have automatic transmission, from €30 a day. The e-C3 and the Zoe seat 5, the 500e seats 4, and power runs from 113 hp in the Citroen to 136 hp in the Peugeot. Worth knowing: the automatic gearbox is the real reason to look at this class — if you would rather not work a manual in city traffic, these four are the only cars on the page that offer it.

Five seats, a convertible and the top of the range

Fiat Panda, Citroen C3, Dacia Sandero, Renault Clio, Hyundai i20, Opel Corsa, Peugeot 208, Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo and Seat Ibiza all seat five, from €21 a day.

Driving a daily rental car in Madrid inside the ZBE

ZBE Madrid — Zona de Bajas Emisiones de Madrid — covers every street of the municipality across all 21 districts, so a one-day route through the centre is not a question of avoiding one ring road. The rule turns on the environmental sticker on the windscreen, and our fleet is registered in Spain, which keeps that question short.

Which cars may enter the ZBE

Cars without a DGT environmental sticker — category A, petrol first registered before 2000 and diesel before 2005 — may not enter ZBE Madrid at all. Our four electric cars, the Citroen e-C3, Fiat 500e, Renault Zoe and Peugeot e-208, carry the 0 emisiones sticker, the blue one, and the ECO badge on the Fiat Pandina hybrid earns a 75% discount on resident parking permits.

A car on Spanish plates sidesteps that step entirely, which is worth knowing before you plan a day through the centre. Ask the manager what applies on your date when you confirm the booking.

Speed limits on a one-day city route

• Urban streets, one lane each way: 30 km/h is the general limit, with 20 km/h on single-platform streets and 50 km/h where two or more lanes run in one direction.
• Autopista and autovía: 120 km/h, and 90 km/h on an ordinary interurban road.
• Speeding fines: on a 30 km/h street, 31–50 km/h costs €100 with no points, 51–60 km/h costs €300 and two points, and anything above 81 km/h reaches €600 and six points.
• Alcohol: the general limit is 0.25 mg/l of breath, 0.15 mg/l for drivers in their first two years; above 0.60 mg/l it stops being a fine and becomes a criminal offence.
• Phone in hand: €200 and six points. A child under 135 cm needs an SRI seat, and the driver carries that responsibility.

Parking your Madrid daily rental car for the day

Madrid runs a regulated on-street parking system called SER, and its two zones set the terms for anyone leaving a car between morning and evening. SER stands for Servicio de Estacionamiento Regulado, and the meters that issue the ticket are parquímetros. Both zones operate Monday to Friday, 09:00–21:00, and on Saturday, 09:00–15:00 — outside those windows on-street parking is free.

SER zona azul and zona verde for a one-day hire

• Zona azul (blue): the general zone, open to any car, with a maximum stay of 4 hours per space — enough for a museum run or a long lunch in Centro.

One-day trips from Madrid in a rental car

Day routes that fit inside one rental day

• Alcalá de Henares: 35 km north-east on the A-2, close enough to combine with a morning in the centre.

What a one-day run asks of the car

An Economy model is the sensible default for these distances: the Renault Clio, Hyundai i20, Opel Corsa and Peugeot 208 all seat five, return 90 to 100 hp and cost between €25 and €28 a day. If the route crosses the Sierra de Guadarrama in winter, DGT puts restrictions in place for cars without winter tyres or chains — signposted on the day, on the specific roads affected, so check the boards before you climb.

Booking your daily car rental in Madrid with a manager

A daily car rental with Rent-Trip is agreed with a manager, not dropped into a checkout basket. You tell us the date, the class and where you want the car handed over; the manager confirms the car, the day and the price in writing before anything is fixed.

What the manager settles before your day starts

• The car and the class: 24 cars sit on this page, from the Smart Fortwo at €14 a day to the Mini One at €41, and the manager holds the exact model for your date.
• The hand-over point: we deliver the car to you, and the address and the time are agreed when booking rather than assumed.
• The price for your dates: a single day runs from €14 to €41; a week starts at €84 and a month at €294.
• The deposit and any excess: both figures are set out in the rental agreement, so ask the manager for them before you confirm.

Documents and driving licence questions

Driving in Spain is allowed from 18 for category B. An EU or EEA licence is valid here as it stands while it has not expired, and no international permit is needed alongside it. A licence from outside the EEA is valid for driving as a visitor; residents may use it for up to six months from the date they take up habitual residence in Spain, after which it has to be exchanged. If your licence is not written in Latin script — Cyrillic, Arabic or characters — it is accepted only with an official translation into Spanish, or if it was issued on the Appendix 9 model of the Geneva Convention or Appendix 6 of the Vienna one, which in practice means an international driving permit or a certified translation. The Permiso Internacional de Conducción is never valid on its own: it is shown together with your national licence and passport, and it runs for one year.

The minimum age for renting and any young-driver surcharge are agreed when booking, as is the card used for the deposit.

Why a manager rather than a form

A manager can, and can move your booking to another day if the car you want is already out.

Documents, insurance and the rental agreement for Madrid

Every daily car hire in Madrid ends with a rental agreement, and the figures that matter to you — the deposit, the excess and any delivery fee — are the ones printed in that agreement. We agree the terms with you when booking, so nothing arrives as a surprise at hand-over.

What you need to drive

• Licence: an EU or EEA driving permit stays valid in Spain until its expiry date, with nothing further required and no international permit needed.
• Non-EU licence: valid for driving as a visitor; anyone who takes up residence in Spain may use it for no more than six months from the date they receive their habitual residence, after which it must be exchanged.
• Licence without Latin script: a third-country permit is valid in Spain only if it is written in Spanish, carries an official translation, or was issued on the Appendix 9 model of the Geneva Convention or Appendix 6 of the Vienna Convention. For Cyrillic, Arabic or character-based scripts that means an international driving permit or a certified translation in practice.
• International driving permit: on its own it is not valid — it is shown only together with your national licence, and it runs for one year.

What the insurance covers

Third-party liability insurance is compulsory and comes with any car that may legally be driven in Spain, so it is included in a daily booking by default. The minimum amounts are €70,000,000 per incident for personal injury, however many people are injured, and €15,000,000 per incident for property damage, under Real Decreto Legislativo 8/2004, article 4.2 as amended by Ley 5/2025, in force since 26.07.2025.

Before you confirm

Ask the manager for the deposit and the excess together — comparing one without the other tells you nothing about your real exposure for the day.

What to remember about daily car rental in Madrid

Daily car rental comes down to a handful of things worth settling before the keys change hands: the class you pick sets the price, the DGT sticker decides where you may drive, and the parking meter decides how long you may stand still. Everything below is what we would tell a friend before a one-day booking.

The points that matter most

• Class before model: the day rate runs from €14 to €41, so choose Economy, Electric, Convertibles or Comfort first and the model second.
• Sticker before route: ZBE Madrid covers every street of the municipality across all 21 districts, and cars without a DGT environmental sticker may not enter.
• Meter before windscreen: SER zona azul allows a maximum of 4 hours and zona verde a maximum of 2 hours, weekdays 09:00–21:00 and Saturday 09:00–15:00.
• Agreement before confirmation: the deposit and any excess are set out in the rental agreement, so ask for both figures when you book.
• Manager before the date: the booking is agreed with a manager, so the class, the day and the hand-over are settled with a person, not an automated form.

What a day actually costs

Our 24 cars on this page start at €14 a day and stop at €41, and a week of daily rental starts at €84 with a month from €294. The gap between the cheapest day and the dearest is €27, which is the whole reason we suggest picking the class before the model — a two-seat city car and a five-seat hatchback do the same errand on a single day, but not at the same price. Electric starts at €30, the one convertible sits at €30, and the one Comfort car at €41.

Before you drive off

Check the declared price includes every mandatory charge you cannot legally drive without, and walk the car with the person handing it over so that any scratch or dent goes into the agreement or the inspection sheet before you leave — that document is signed by both sides and your copy stays with you. Inside the city the limits are 30 km/h on a street with one lane in each direction, 20 km/h where road and pavement form a single platform, and 50 km/h where there are two or more lanes each way; on autopista and autovía the limit is 120 km/h and on a conventional road 90 km/h. Alcohol runs at 0.25 mg/l of breath for most drivers and 0.15 mg/l for the first two years, and a phone held in the hand costs €200 and 6 points.