Problems With Spanish Car Hire

There is an interesting debate going on at The Times Online about the hidden costs with car hire. Below is an extract from that debate.

The comment below about return policies also "gets my goat" and I hate returning a car empty, there is simply no way that you can be at ease with an empty fuel tank on your way to catch an airplane!

However on a recent trip to Barcelona I was told to drop the car off with a full tank of fuel, great.....except there is not a petrol garage at Barcelona Airport and it took a lot of effort and wrong turns to find one!

Anyone else have anything to add?

Extract from The Times Online:

I read with interest Mark Hodson's campaign and the comments on 'pumped -up prices' for fuel in hire cars. I am taking this up with Europa Goldcar after a recent holiday in Spain where (at Malaga Airport) I was charged €63 for a full 50 litre tank of diesel - about 15 per cent above pump prices. I had to return the car empty 10 days later but, as I wanted a restful holiday I had no intention of driving the 450 miles or so required to use up all the fuel so, in spite of driving to Granada and back during the holiday, the car was still 3/4 full when I returned it. The important point here is that unless the tank is returned absolutely empty (and, I suspect, most are not) then the rental company, by charging the next customer for all the fuel in the tank, will be charging again for fuel already paid for by the previous hirer. Pick up full and return full is the only fair and legal way to avoid this activity - R E Best, Weobley, Hereford