Yes, and it isn’t close. Tenerife’s car hire industry exists mostly for people who live somewhere else, so the desk staff have seen every passport and every kind of licence you can imagine. The question isn’t whether you can rent, it’s whether you arrive with the right piece of paper, the right card and the right age for the company you booked with.
Most trips go wrong at that desk for boring reasons: a licence from a country where an International Driving Permit is expected, a debit card where a credit card was required, a second driver who was never added to the booking. All of those are fixable in advance, and this page is about doing that.
The short answer: you need a valid driving licence held for at least a year or two, a passport or national ID, a credit card in the main driver’s name (or a no-deposit rate), and to be at least 21 (some companies say 23, and under-25s pay a surcharge). EU and UK licences are accepted as they are. Licences from outside Europe, including US, Canadian and Australian ones, are generally expected to come with an International Driving Permit.
Your licence decides most of it
Start with where your licence was issued, because that’s the one thing that changes the rules.
If it’s from an EU or EEA country, it’s valid in Spain and Tenerife exactly as it is. Nothing extra to carry.
If it’s a UK photocard licence, visitors can drive and hire cars in Spain with it and don’t need an IDP. People still holding an old paper licence tend to get more questions at the desk, so updating to a photocard before you travel, or carrying an IDP with it, saves a conversation.
If it’s from the US, Canada, Australia or most other countries, the safe position is to bring an International Driving Permit alongside your own licence. An IDP is an official translation of your licence, not a replacement for it, so you need both. Some desks wave a national licence through, and some don’t, and there are reported cases of customers on the Canary Islands being turned away without one, so this is not a risk worth taking for the price of a small booklet. You need to get it at home, because you can’t get a valid one after you land. Our guide to the International Driving Permit in Tenerife explains how to get one, and the one on driving licence requirements for car hire goes through it by licence type. If you’re travelling from Canada, there’s a short guide for Canadian visitors with a few company-specific quirks.
Licences in a non-Latin alphabet, such as Cyrillic, Arabic or Chinese, are the clearest case: an IDP is effectively mandatory, because it’s the thing that lets the desk read your details at all.
One detail catches more people than the nationality rules do. Look at the dates on your licence, not just the type. A licence that expires halfway through your trip can cause problems even if it was valid on the day you booked, and one that has been held for less than the company’s minimum (usually one to two years) can rule you out entirely.
The card, not the passport, is where visitors get stuck
More foreign visitors hit trouble over payment than over licences. The standard set-up is a credit card in the main driver’s name, and the company holds an amount on it as a deposit, often somewhere between a few hundred euros and around €2,000. The money isn’t spent, but it sits on your limit until the car comes back clean.
Debit cards are often refused for the deposit on standard rates, and prepaid or travel cards rarely work at all. If you don’t have a credit card, the practical answer is a no-deposit, fully inclusive rate, a speciality of the local Canarian companies, which removes the hold and makes a debit card workable. Our guides to car hire with a debit card and to no-deposit car hire go through which companies do that and what it costs.
Two small tips for foreign cards. Tell your bank you’re travelling, and if the terminal asks whether you want to pay in your home currency or in euros, choose euros. The home-currency option is usually the worse rate.
Age, at both ends
The age rules are the same for foreigners and locals, and they only show up as a real cost at the edges.
The minimum is usually 21, and some companies say 23, with the licence held for a year or two. Under 25, expect a daily young-driver surcharge at most companies, and some also keep larger SUVs and premium cars off the list for younger drivers. The surcharge varies more between operators than most other fees on the island, so a company that looks cheapest on the standard rate isn’t always cheapest once it’s added. Our under-25 car hire guide compares them.
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At the other end, Spain doesn’t set a maximum age, and most companies don’t either. Some set their own limit or ask for extra paperwork above a certain age, such as a medical certificate of fitness to drive. That’s company policy, not law, so it differs from one operator to the next. Our guide to car hire for drivers over 70 covers which ones and what they ask for.
If anyone in your group is at either end, read the company’s terms before you book, not at the desk. A restriction that rules out one company often doesn’t apply at another, and changing company on arrival is far more disruptive than reading a policy a week early.
Everyone who’ll drive goes on the booking
This one is easy to miss when one person books for the whole group. Add every driver to the booking in advance rather than assuming they’ll be added at the desk. The age and licence conditions can apply to each additional driver as well as the named one, and the details differ between companies, so a group where only one person booked sometimes finds that nobody else is covered to drive. It also means each of them needs to turn up with their own licence.
The name on the licence, the booking and the card should all match, letter for letter. A mismatch is a common reason for a pickup taking an hour instead of five minutes.
What goes in your bag
Have these ready and the desk part takes minutes:
- Your original driving licence, physical and in date.
- An International Driving Permit, if your licence needs one, carried with the original.
- Your passport (or national ID if you’re an EU citizen).
- The credit card in the main driver’s name, with enough free limit for the deposit.
- Your booking confirmation, which on your phone is fine.
- A licence for every additional driver you’ve added.
Book from home, and sort the paperwork first
One of the genuine advantages of hiring a car here as a visitor is that all of it can be arranged before you fly. Prices booked weeks ahead are usually well below walk-up rates, especially in peak season (see when car hire is cheapest), automatics and family cars sell out, and many bookings can be cancelled or changed, so committing early costs little. It also gives you time to understand the cover you’re buying instead of deciding under pressure at the counter, which our car hire insurance guide is written for.
If you’re coming from a country where automatics are the default, note that Europe leans manual: automatics exist but cost more and book out first, so reserve early if you need one (manual vs automatic explains the difference). Everything else follows the usual order: check your licence, book with free cancellation, arrange any excess cover, then pack the documents above. If the contract is handed to you in Spanish at the desk, our guide to signing a car hire contract in Spanish covers what to check first.
Questions people ask
Who can rent a car in Tenerife? Anyone who meets the company’s conditions: a valid licence held for the minimum period (plus an IDP if your licence needs one), a passport or ID, a credit card in the main driver’s name for the deposit, and the minimum age, usually 21. Younger drivers pay a surcharge, and some companies set their own limits or ask for extra paperwork for older drivers.
Can American tourists rent a car in Tenerife? Yes. Americans can rent with their US licence, but should bring an International Driving Permit obtained in the US before travelling, along with a passport and a credit card for the deposit.
Can UK tourists rent a car in Tenerife after Brexit? Yes. A UK photocard licence is accepted for visitors, and no IDP is needed. You’ll need your licence, passport and a credit card.
Do tourists need an International Driving Permit? EU and UK licence holders don’t. Visitors with licences from many non-EU countries, such as the US, Canada or Australia, are generally expected to have one, carried alongside the original. Get it in your home country, because you can’t get a valid one after you arrive.
Do additional drivers need to meet the same requirements? Usually yes, in the sense that each extra driver has to be added to the contract and show a valid licence, and age or licence-length conditions can apply to them too. The details vary by company, so add everyone to the booking in advance.
Can I rent a car in Tenerife without a credit card? Often yes, with a no-deposit, fully inclusive rate (common with local Canarian companies), which removes the deposit hold so a debit card can work. Standard rates usually require a credit card.
How old do I have to be? Usually at least 21 (sometimes 23), with the licence held for a year or two. Under-25s often pay a young-driver fee, and Spain has no maximum age, though some companies set their own.
Is it hard for foreigners to drive in Tenerife? No. The island drives on the right, the main roads are modern and toll-free, and the signs are clear. The mountain roads need an unhurried approach, but most visitors adapt within a day.
Once you’re eligible
Eligibility is the cheap part to get right. What makes the difference after that is picking the right company and knowing what you’ll really pay: our comparison of Tenerife’s main car hire companies is the next read, alongside our breakdown of the real cost of car hire in Tenerife, which also covers the age surcharges in more detail.