The car rental place had no interest in my international driver's license - they told me the US one was enough. The only time I drove in Madrid was leaving the city and returning. In fact, this is the first year I didn't get an international license (for Iceland) - and it was the first time I was stopped by the police! The woman who came up to the car asked me to come back to the police car where she showed my license to the other cop (I think maybe she was a rookie.) They asked why I was driving so fast - I explained that I'm unused to not being held up by traffic. They let me go with a warning.

One of my favorite Spain cities was Tarragona, outside of Barcelona. It's right on the water and very relaxing.

Marguerite in Chicagoland http://mtczajka.net