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Drive to Spain with your dog

How do you get your car and dog down to Spain? You drive, of course! Does it sound difficult? The MiMove-blog has met with Claudia who decided to drive to Spain with her dog.

-It was so much easier than I thought. I should have done this years ago!

I have always wanted to drive through Europe. It just seemed like such an adventure. But I haven’t done it until now. This summer I will spend several weeks in Spain and I wanted to bring both my car and my dog with me and what is a girl to do? Go on a road trip! I decided not to book any tickets or accommodation in advance as I had no idea how long I felt like driving or how comfortable my dog would be. I was convinced it would be fine one way or another. However, I had to do some preparation regarding my car and my dog before the trip.

Mimove Car Dog

My dog is called Diva and she is a five-year-old Labrador. She is used to riding in the car a lot and to sit in her crate back in the car. In Sweden it is recommended for dogs to be restrained in the car as both dog and driver can get seriously harmed in a potential crash if the dog is allowed to roam free in the car. Diva has been trained with her crate since she was a pup and loves it. Although, the space is of course limited she feels safe and happy there and always happily jumps in when allowed. In order to travel internationally with a dog, they need a pet passssport. It is the vet who issues pet passports. In order to get a pet passport, the dog has to be micro chipped.

Preparing for our drive to Spain

Different countries have different diseases and rules and regulations, and the best thing is to talk to your veterinarian about what is needed. If you normally live in the UK, here is some information on what is required.

Dog And Car_Mimove

Diva’s regular vaccinations were all up to date, but she needed a vaccine against rabies. She was not permitted to leave the country until 21 days after getting the shot. So, I did have to plan a little and not leave everything to the last minute.

Our journey started in Stockholm, Sweden and we needed to cross Denmark, Germany and France on our way to Spain. It is approximately 3500 kilometres. Both France and Germany have green zones where there are restrictions depending on which classification your car belongs to, i.e. how environmentally friendly it is. As I didn’t know which route I would take I decided to order all the necessary badges (facts at the end of the blog post).

And we are off

One Friday in the middle of July we put Diva in her crate, filled the car with fuel and started our journey. We were going to drive to Spain! We started a little later than planned but around 11.30 am we were on the road. By that time, Diva had also already had a long morning walk so we thought she would be fine in the car for a while. Apart from Diva and myself my sister also joined us. It is her house on the Almeria coast we were heading to.

We drove towards the bridge between Sweden and Denmark. From Stockholm that is approximately 600 kilometres. There were surprisingly few cars on the road and the weather was nice. At one point we got caught in some heavy showers and we had to drive slowly for a while but apart from that we were able to drive as fast as we legally could for most of our trip. We made a brief stop to have lunch and walk Diva but by 6 o’clock we had passed the bridge and were on Danish soil. Using an app on my phone we booked tickets for the ferry from Denmark to Germany. There was no information on whether dogs were allowed but we thought we would be able to sort that out once we got to the harbour.

Dog And Car_Mimove

We stopped by the sea to let Diva swim and stretch her legs. Normally, she is a very active dog so spending many hours in a car is not her favourite pastime. We spent some time watching the sun set while Diva played and enjoyed herself in the water.

Dog friendly ferry

By 9 o’clock we showed our tickets to get onto the ferry. I told the person checking us in that we were traveling with a dog. She didn’t respond so I had to explain again and ask if it was OK to bring the dog onto the ferry, perhaps we needed to pay extra? Bring the dog, just don’t leave her in the car, was the reply.

We got on board and went looking for somewhere to eat. There was a cafeteria and one proper restaurant with buffet-style dining. We were quite hungry by now and wanted to sit down but what to do with Diva? In Sweden you are rarely allowed to bring your dog anywhere. We asked one of the service staff who looked at us like we were from outer space.

-We would love to eat here, but what do we do with the dog?

-Do with the dog?

-Yes, can we take her inside the restaurant?

-Of course! Do you want some water for her?

What little we saw of Denmark, it sure seems like a very dog friendly place! We had a lovely meal and felt rejuvenated when we reached Germany. By then it was only about 10 pm and we decided to fill up the car, stock up on snacks and water and drive as far as we could before we got too tired.

Dog And Car_Mimove

Stocking up on snacks

We found a petrol station and as it was past 10 by now, only the night hatch was open. We don’t speak German and the man inside didn’t speak much English. All other people were men and through the windows we could see shelf after shelf with beer cans. We had no desire for beer but for chocolates and biscuits. The man inside got more and more nervous and flustered trying to understand our order and the men in the queue behind us got more and more impatient. Finally, we got two large bottles of water, a chocolate bar and a packet of chocolate biscuits.

Danger ahead

I drove into the night and we were happy we had already managed to drive almost a third of our total distance. Not long after a car pulls up next to us and the man inside is waving his arms signaling to us to stop our car. We get both scared and annoyed until we realize that he is in fact letting us know that there is something wrong with our taillights. That is not good, of course! Driving on the Autobahn without taillights! We stopped at the side of the road, and the other car stopped behind us.

With all the news about road pirates and other dangers we didn’t feel comfortable and drove off again. We try to figure out the problem while we are driving, and the other car is following us. The situation is quite upsetting but we realize that it is even more dangerous to be driving if other cars can’t see us, so we stop again, as does the other car. The driver jumps out of the car and comes up to my side window. Reluctantly, I roll down my window.

-Good evening, he says with a heavy German accent. My wife maybe thought you were scared as we were following you but your taillights are off. Perhaps you somehow forgot to turn them on? He, very kindly said and reached inside the car and turned a button on and we had lights. It was an unpleasant situation all together but in retrospect we were very happy the German man and his wife were so persistent in wanting to help.

Dog And Car_Mimove

Time for breakfast and a walk

Around 5 o’clock in the morning we were fast approaching the border to France. We stopped and had breakfast and took Diva for a walk. We felt fine and full of energy so decided to keep driving. Having checked the fuel prices online we decided to fill up in Germany and not to refuel until we crossed into Spain. This site has some good information on what countries have the cheapest fuel but also how to find cheap fuel within a country.

Before driving in Germany, we were a little worried that the Autobahn would be very stressful but to our surprise there were not many cars and people rarely drove faster than 120 kilometres per hour. Perhaps it was because we drove during the night but nevertheless it was a pleasant experience.

Dog And Car_Mimove

Within the EU it is not so easy to know when you are crossing a border. We didn’t have to show our passports a single time during our whole trip.

Needing to sleep

The drive through France was slower. When we came closer to Spain the roads filled up with cars and we came to a standstill several times, even on the motorway. Our navigator suggested a different route to avoid the congested roads and we followed its advice. Unfortunately! It led us to kilometre after kilometre of winding slow roads through the countryside. It was beautiful and lovely to see something different but oh, so slow. We also started to get tired and checked booking.com for rooms close to Girona in Spain. In a village outside of Girona, we found a cheap room. It said the hotel was pet friendly.

Dog And Car_Mimove

We arrived later than expected and the sweet couple running the small hotel were waiting for us. Having checked in and left our bags in our large, nice room we took a stroll through the village. We found a small restaurant. The menu was only in Catalan and the waitress hardly spoke any English and our Spanish is still poor. But somehow, we got heavenly tapas for dinner and a fantastic bottle of local wine.

Local Iron Maiden

Towards the end of our meal, the whole village was drenched in loud, metallic music. None of the locals seemed to mind, perhaps they were used to the noise? We followed the music to the town square where the local hard rock band entertained. Iron Maiden would have been proud to have disciples like them.

Dog And Car Mimove

The music was hard, loud and relentless and they played for hours. We had to make the choice between sleeping with the windows closed in 30 degrees or with windows open. It did sound like the musicians were standing in our room, playing just for us! But, with or without music we slept very well after 36 hours on the road.

Are we there yet?

Our destination was Mojacar on the Costa del Almeria and we had another 800 kilometres to go. It was a really hot day and it felt even hotter close to the motorway. We made short stops along the way and longed for the pool and beach. It was much cooler in the car than outside.

Comparatively, the Spanish roads are much better than in any other country we had passed. The signs were easy to understand, the roads are in great condition and on this particular day there were few cars.

Dog And Car Mimove

Just before 6 o’clock on Sunday evening we came to Mojacar and could open up the house for the summer. We took a great long walk with Diva before opening a bottle of Cava to toast to a journey well done!

To drive to Spain through Europe with a dog was a lot easier than I had imagined. All in all, everything was easy, however it is a long drive. Perhaps, we will make some longer stops on the way back? However, I do know that Diva and I will go traveling again soon!

 

Facts on green zones:

In Germany you have to get a green badge showing which environmental classification your car belongs to in order to drive through certain areas. In this table you can see which badge is for your car. From 2018 there will be some temporary rules coming into effect for diesel cars and then you may need a blue badge. This app will show you in real time what is required.

There are 27 different green zones in France and there are hefty fines if you don’t have the right badge. The zones are primarily in urban areas and not along the motorways. This app will keep track of all the different requirements for you.

The badges are mailed to you through the post so please allow a few days for them to arrive before taking off on your journey.

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