Car hire in El Medano

How much fuel do I bring it back with?

Return the car with the same fuel level it had at pick-up. If the level is lower, you pay the difference at the rental company's rates, not at the pump price. If the level is higher, you are not compensated for the difference. The rental conditions for Spain apply in the Canary Islands.

Fuel in the Canary Islands carries neither IVA nor the state hydrocarbons excise; the islands levy their own fuel tax and IGIC, and fuel costs less than on mainland Spain or in the UK. Most cars carry no mileage limit, and any limit is shown on the listing. Payment for fuel during the rental is the renter's responsibility.

The TGAS station on the TF-64 at kilometre 7.7 in El Medano is open 24 hours. At Tenerife South Airport, the Repsol station on the airport access road is open 24 hours, about 0.4 kilometres from the terminal. The BP on the Carretera Atogo at kilometre 0.5, on the TF-1 about 1.5 kilometres north of the terminal, is also open 24 hours. There is no fuel station in Golf del Sur, Amarilla Golf or Los Abrigos, and the nearest cluster of stations is at Las Chafiras, about 3 kilometres away.

What else does the car have to come back as?

If the car is returned so dirty that it hinders its inspection, it is washed at the customer's expense. Standard insurance does not cover damage to the wheels, the undercarriage, the windscreen or the interior of the car, and the insurance is invalid where damage comes from intentional vandalism or neglect.

Fines, parking, fuel and toll roads during the rental are the renter's responsibility. Fixed speed cameras operate on the TF-1 and the TF-5, and any fine they produce is the renter's to pay. Every hire car on Tenerife is Spanish-registered and must carry an approved, connected V-16 beacon, and the fine for not carrying an approved beacon is eighty euros.

Parking, and living with the wind

The Ayuntamiento de Granadilla has announced a 180-space modular car park on Calle Isla Tenerife in El Medano, and works are due to start in September 2026. On the street, the Spanish colour code applies: blue lines are metered bays with a time limit, unmarked white bays are free and yellow lines mean no parking.

El Medano is a windsurfing and kitesurfing centre on the north-east trade wind, which blows for most of the year. The PWA windsurfing world tour has held an event at El Cabezo beach. Standard insurance does not cover damage to the windscreen or the interior of the car. The Teide cable car closes in adverse wind, and the Parador in the Teide crater is fifty-one minutes from El Medano.

What is within reach

From El Medano, Costa Adeje is twenty-three minutes and twenty-six kilometres by road, and Los Cristianos is twenty-four minutes and twenty-three kilometres. Both resorts lie west of the airport, and the drive down to the resorts from the terminal runs on the TF-1. Tenerife South Airport is about twenty minutes and five kilometres from El Medano.

Vilaflor is twenty-eight minutes and twenty-four kilometres from El Medano, and it is the highest municipality in the Canary Islands at roughly 1,400 metres. Candelaria is thirty-two minutes, Santa Cruz de Tenerife forty-four, Tenerife North Airport fifty-one and Puerto de la Cruz sixty-six. The other places on the island a car can be brought to you include Costa Adeje, Los Cristianos, Playa de las Americas, Los Gigantes, Playa Paraiso and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, all city-delivery points, and Puerto de la Cruz, which also has named pick-up points. At Tenerife South Airport, lower-priced cars were absent from the Christmas-week and mid-February listings, and the cheapest window of the year falls outside those weeks.

El Medano can be chosen as a drop-off as well as a pick-up. A car collected at Tenerife South Airport can be left in El Medano, and any one-way charge is shown with the price on each car. The TGAS station on the TF-64 at kilometre 7.7 is open 24 hours. Golf del Sur and Guía de Isora can be a pick-up but not a one-way drop-off, so a hire car delivered in Golf del Sur goes back to Golf del Sur. Las Chafiras, about 3 kilometres from Golf del Sur, is a pick-up point as well.