Car shipping to Marbella

Door-to-door transit is typically five to seven days. Our most common choice is the sea route: Southampton or Portsmouth to Santander or Bilbao on the Brittany Ferries service, followed by enclosed road haulage roughly 1,000 km south through Burgos, Madrid and Granada. End-to-end that runs around five to seven days. The alternative is the Eurotunnel from Folkestone followed by a straight road run through France and down through the Spanish interior, a journey of around 2,000 km and about 24 hours of pure driving. Sea suits multi-vehicle consignments and clients with flexible arrival dates; the road route suits a single car needed on the Costa del Sol quickly.

Yes. Delivery is to the address of your choice anywhere along the Costa del Sol. The transporter routinely hands cars over at private villas on the Golden Mile, at the underground garages of the Puerto Banús apartment blocks, at gated residences inside Sotogrande and at the major golf and hotel resorts in between. Hand-over is at your address, end of story. Where access is restricted, whether that is narrow lanes above Marbella Old Town, gated communities with security clearance, or the marina-side bays at Puerto Banús, we co-ordinate the appropriate permits and access in advance with your concierge or representative.

It depends on your residency status. Non-residents using the car for short stays of up to six months in a twelve-month period can bring the vehicle in under temporary admission with no Spanish registration required. Established Spanish residents importing a car permanently must re-register the vehicle on Spanish plates, pay any import duties applicable to non-EU origin goods and complete the Spanish ITV inspection within a defined window of arrival. We work with Spanish customs brokers and registration agents weekly and will confirm the correct route, whether temporary or permanent import, before collection. There are no surprises at the Marbella end.

Three reasons. First, the journey is long, roughly 2,000 km whichever routing we choose, and exposure to motorway grit, road salt on the higher French passes in winter and rain over a multi-day open haul accumulates. Second, southern Spain experiences regular Calima events: hot, dust-laden winds blowing in from the Sahara that deposit a fine, abrasive layer across exposed paintwork during the run-in south of Madrid. Third, the clientele on this route ship vehicles where a chipped front lip or stone-stripped paint is a serious cost. For a Ferrari, a Pagani-class supercar or a classic Mercedes, enclosed haulage with air-ride suspension is the appropriate standard. Open transport is available where the vehicle warrants it; for the marques we move to Marbella, enclosed is the default.

Yes, in full. We lodge the import declaration with the Spanish customs authority at Santander, Bilbao or the first Spanish point of entry, and instruct our named Spanish broker for the onward formality; you never handle a T1 document, stand at a port or chase a clearance reference yourself. See our European customs guide for the process end to end, and the Duty, IVA and Matriculación figures on this page for what Spain specifically charges.