Car rental at Barcelona Airport (BCN) - desks in Terminal 1 arrivals. Compare prices from 15+ operators at Spain's second-busiest international airport.
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Sample prices for a 7-day rental. Final price, deposit and terms are confirmed on Localrent.
Desks at T1 & T2
Suppliers across both terminals at El Prat (BCN).
No-deposit options
About a third of cars in Spain come with no deposit hold at pickup - look for the "No deposit" badge.
Full insurance
Zero-excess cover available on most cars - nothing taken from the deposit if something happens.
Free cancellation
Cancel free on most bookings, often up to 48 hours before pickup.
Whatever you land needing - a cheap runabout, an automatic, or a 7-seater for the whole group - here is what is on the desks at BCN.
Barcelona El Prat (BCN) is the second-busiest airport in Spain, so the rental setup is well drilled - but it pays to know which terminal you are landing at.
El Prat has two terminals a few kilometres apart, linked by a free shuttle bus that runs 24 hours. In Terminal 1 the rental desks are on the ground and first floor of the arrivals hall, near the Meeting Point, with the cars in the T1 car park just in front. In Terminal 2 the desks are in building T2B, in the arrivals hall past the customs area. Some suppliers keep their cars in a car park a short walk across the road rather than inside the terminal - your voucher tells you exactly where to go for the company you booked.
Major suppliers at BCN
The exact desk and pickup point for your booking is always confirmed on your rental voucher - check it before you land.
Payment and deposit
When you book you pay only a small upfront amount - usually 15-20% of the hire cost. The rest is settled at the desk on pickup. The deposit in most cases is fully refundable, and about a third of cars in Spain are handed over with no deposit at all - those are marked in the results. If you only have a debit card, pick a no-deposit rate or a cash-deposit option: nothing gets frozen on your card.
Have your voucher, passport, driving licence held for at least a year, and the booking card ready at the desk - it keeps the queue short after a long flight. Most desks at BCN run late into the evening, but if your flight lands after midnight, check the closing time on your supplier before you book, as a missed pickup is hard to recover. Inspect the car for existing scratches and photograph them before you drive off. Drivers under 25 usually pay a young-driver surcharge, and the minimum age is generally 21.
BCN sits right on the C-31 and C-32, so you are on the motorway within minutes - about 15 to 20 minutes into central Barcelona, or straight onto the AP-7 if you are heading for the coast without going into the city at all.
Low-emission zone (ZBE) - good news for rentals
Barcelona's low-emission zone (ZBE Rondes) covers the city centre and reaches out to the airport area, with camera enforcement on weekdays. The good news: cars hired in Spain already carry the required DGT environmental sticker, so a rental picked up at BCN can drive into the city and the zone without any extra paperwork. The registration hassle and the EUR 200 fine only affect older or foreign-plated private cars - not your hire car.
When you return, fuel up before the airport, as on-site prices are higher, then follow the "car hire return" signs to your supplier's car park - T1 returns go to Section A of the main car park, T2 returns to the car park in front of the terminal. If you plan to cross into Andorra or drop the car one-way in another city, flag it when you book rather than at the desk.
Both. In Terminal 1 they are in the arrivals hall (ground and first floor) with cars in the T1 car park; in Terminal 2 they are in building T2B past customs.
Some suppliers shuttle you to an off-site branch. Your voucher states the exact location.
Yes. Cars rented in Spain already have the DGT environmental sticker that the ZBE requires, so you can drive into the city and the zone with no extra registration.
The fines only apply to non-compliant private or foreign-plated cars.
Most desks open late, but hours vary by supplier. If you land after midnight, check the closing time on your chosen company before booking so your pickup is not missed.
About 15 to 20 minutes via the C-31 or C-32 in normal traffic.
For the coast, you can join the AP-7 straight from the airport and skip the city altogether - Sitges is about 25 minutes south and Girona around an hour north.
A credit card is not always required - it is needed to hold the security deposit. At pickup the supplier freezes the deposit amount on the card: the money is not charged and is released when you return the car undamaged.
To avoid a hold, choose a full cover or no-deposit rate - then a debit card is usually fine and there is no pressure to buy extra cover at the desk.
The deposit is an amount the rental company holds as a guarantee for the car. Road fines or damage can be deducted from it.
If the car comes back without problems, the deposit is released in full. It is a temporary hold on your card, not a charge.
It depends on the car class and the supplier - you can see the exact amount on each car's card.
You can set a maximum deposit in the filter and the catalogue shows only matching offers. The lower you set it, the fewer cars remain.
Yes. To see cars with no deposit, use the «No deposit» filter option. There are also cars with a small deposit or cash payment.
Note that "no deposit" means no hold at pickup, not no booking payment - a small upfront amount is still taken when you book. If nothing suits, contact our support team.
The deposit is the amount frozen on your card at pickup and released when you return the car undamaged.
The excess is the part of any damage you pay yourself even with insurance - anything above it is covered by the insurer.
In practice, damage is taken from the deposit up to the excess, so the deposit is often set to match it. A full, zero-excess policy removes both: you do not pay for damage and the hold is usually waived.
Cover comes in levels:
You see the available rates on each car's card when booking.
If you would rather not depend on the deposit and excess, choose the full rate.
Yes, some cars can be paid in cash - use the «Cash» filter option.
You pay a small upfront amount by debit or credit card when booking (usually 15-20% of the total), and the rest in cash at pickup in the terminal.
Yes, paying for the car with cryptocurrency is possible - contact our support team to arrange it.
Yes. In the search, set a pick-up and a drop-off point - for example collect at BCN and return in Barcelona city, Girona or Tarragona.
By default the car is returned to the same place you collected it.
Most are manual, as across Spain. Automatics cost more and sell out first, especially in summer, so book one well ahead if you need it.
You need a passport, a driving licence and the rental voucher - the voucher can be shown on your phone or tablet.
It states the final price with your chosen options and insurance, so the amount due at the desk will not change.
To hire through our rental companies you need at least 2 years of driving experience.
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