Get the International Driving Permit. It is not optional in practice.

Spain recognises an Australian licence under the 1949 Geneva Convention, but that is not the point. Spanish rental desks routinely refuse to release a car to a non-EU licence holder without an IDP, or charge a fee, or quietly downgrade the insurance. The desk agent's decision is final at 7am with a villa already paid for.

Smartraveller warns that driving without one in Spain can mean a fine and your car impounded. Spain's own DGT advises every non-EU visitor to get one before arriving, and the alternative legal route needs a sworn translation in a specific format that an Australian card licence does not satisfy.

RACQ issues them over the counter for A$55, valid twelve months from issue and non-renewable, no membership needed. You must apply in person and cannot do it on someone else's behalf. Details. Get it any time between now and late August.

Carry all three together: the IDP, the Australian licence and your passport. The DGT is explicit that the permit never stands alone. It is a translation, not a licence, and it is worthless without the original beside it.

Collect the car on the way out, not on arrival

Every plan picks the car up on Sunday 20 September, after the Barcelona nights. Collecting it on arrival would mean three days of city parking charges and dealing with the Barcelona low-emission zone for a car you would not drive.

Book the automatic now, not in August. Spain is overwhelmingly a manual market and automatic fleets are small, so the usual two-to-three-weeks advice does not apply: two to three months is the right lead time, and September is still busy in Catalonia. Choose a supplier that guarantees transmission type rather than one offering an automatic "or similar", which is how people end up with a manual on a mountain road.

Roads and tolls

The Catalan AP-7 and the C-32 Maresme toll barriers came down on 1 September 2021, so every route in these six plans is toll-free. What still charges is the C-16 Vallvidrera tunnels, the Cadí tunnel and the C-32 south past Sitges, none of which you need. Speed limits are 30 or 50 in town, 90 on secondary roads and 120 on motorways, and the cameras are real.

One practical note that matters more than it sounds: fill the tank the evening before any early departure. Rural petrol stations in the Empordà and the Priorat are not reliably open at 05:00, and the Gratallops road has no fuel at all.