Why Getting Our Car Towed in Barcelona Was A Good Thing

“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in the pursuit of something else.” - Lawrence Block

Cars being towed don’t usually turn out well. Especially when it’s a rental car. In a foreign country. But, that is exactly what happened to me on my first visit to Barcelona. My sister and I were visiting our friends, K & J, who were studying abroad in Toulouse, France. After a few days in France, we took a road trip to Barcelona where more of their classmates were studying. We rented a car for the trip and had a beautiful drive down towards Narbonne, France and then along the Mediterranean coast to Barcelona. We arrived on a Friday afternoon, located our friend’s apartment and began searching for parking. There was a garage nearby that cost 30 euro a day but, trying to save money, we searched for street parking. Lo and behold, we found a space on the street just around the corner from their place. We were extremely proud of our find as it didn’t cost anything. We were so proud we even took photos of the car.

SO proud of our parking space…

Our plan was to stay 3 nights. We spent the days shopping on Las Ramblas, buying fresh seafood at at La Boqueria and lounging on the beach with empanadas. Our nights were spent experiencing the Barcelona nightlife. Our last morning, a Monday, was spent seeing the famous La Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudi (a must-see in Barcelona). After our time there we walked back to our friend’s apartment and packed up. My sister and K went to get the car to pick us up outside the apartment. It took longer than expected and when they came back they told us they couldn’t find it. They thought maybe they were wrong about the street we had parked on. So, I went out with J to look. We couldn’t find it either. At this point we were certain the car had been stolen because we all remembered where it was - even walking to the metro to go to the beach the day before, we’d pointed out our awesome space to our friends. It had been parked outside a small store and while J and I stood there, a very nice mom and daughter walked out so we asked them for some help. Between the daughter’s English and my high school Spanish, we were able to communicate our issue and they made some phone calls and helped us determine that the car had likely been towed. So our next problem was figuring out where it was towed to which involved trips to two police stations. The first one was a small neighborhood station which didn’t give us any answers. The second was much larger and a bit further away but was a success - we found out our car was towed and where it was. This station was right next to Arenas de Barcelona - the old bullfighting ring turned shopping mall - and the beautiful Plaça d’Espanya. We hadn’t been to that side of the city, so this was the first thing that we got to see as a result of the missing car that we otherwise wouldn’t have!

No one wants to visit a foreign police station on vacation. Or anytime.

By the time we were done at the police station it was 11:30pm  and we were in no mood to make the 4 hour drive back to Toulouse so we stayed another night. The next morning K and I took a cab to the tow lot. It was a short ride and the place was surprisingly well maintained and easy to navigate for us English speakers. 220 euro later, we had our car back. We still aren’t really sure why the car was towed as we didn’t see any “No Estacionar” signs by the space. It was towed first thing Monday morning so our assumption is that it was okay to park there over the weekend, just not on a weekday. Once back at the apartment, we parked in the ‘expensive’ garage. Had we parked there initially, our total for driving would have been 90 euro instead of 220. 🤦‍♀️

The car tow lot in Barcelona. Right before I got told “No Pictures!”

Since we certainly wouldn’t make it back to Toulouse in time for K and J to make class, we set off to see one last thing in Barcelona. We took a short - but steep - walk to the Antoni Gaudi designed Parc Guell - and it ended up being my most favorite experience of the weekend. On the way we picked up some snacks and drinks and we had a wonderful picnic of baguettes, charcuterie and cava. Parc Guell is at the top of a huge hill and while the park is creatively designed, it’s the views of Barcelona leading out to the Mediterranean Sea that make it absolutely spectacular. After our picnic we explored the parc admiring Gaudi’s creations as well as the views. Whenever anyone I know has visited Barca since, this is the first thing I tell them to do - a picnic in Parc Guell.

The additional sights due to our car being towed didn’t end there. When we left Barcelona late that afternoon we entered Toulouse in the GPS forgetting that the GPS default was to give us the shortest mileage route, not the shortest time. We soon realized that we weren’t going home the same way and, upon further examination, found out we’d be going straight north - through the Pyrenees. So we went with it. Had we made this drive the night before it would have been dark and we’d have seen nothing. Now on a beautiful sunny day, why not drive over one of the most famous mountain ranges in the world?  It was a gorgeous drive that included mountain lakes, snow capped peaks, waterfalls and small picturesque European villages before uneventfully arriving in Toulouse around 10pm.   

The Pyrenees Mountains

I recall being in the apartment in Barcelona during the car search and one of the girls staying there commented that we all seemed so calm about the situation. I realized then that none of us were freaking out which would have been a valid response to losing your rental car in a foreign country. Compared to now I had barely traveled at that point in my life but even then I realized that if you are going to travel, you need to be okay with the unexpected. While I am the first to say that I am a planner when it comes to trips, I still know that if you travel a lot, everything is going to happen eventually. Yes, flights will get canceled and bags will be lost by the airlines but even less ordinary things will occur - like rental cars can get towed and jewelry stolen out of your suitcase (I’m looking at you Tropic Air). Maybe I was more naive then because of my lack of traveling but it truly helped me in all my travels going forward - to know that even if something unexpectedly bad happens, we’ll figure out how to fix it. And who knows, the unexpected may cause you to have the best experience of your trip.

Our ‘free’ parking spot ended up being quite costly but provided a good story. 🤷‍♀️