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Well thought I better update this thread now I've returned from Spain.
I ended up using a recommendation from a work colleague and booked a car via a website called 'do you Spain.com' and went with one of the small cheap firms on there called 'Ok car rentals', again as recommended by my mate. Paid absolutely peanuts for the car and had no issues what so ever. I took out the enhanced insurance policy from 'do you Spain.com' to cover the excess should any damage occur. Now this did mean that when I picked the car up the rental company put a €1050 block on my credit card due to me not taking out their insurance which was loads more expensive than what I paid. No problem though cos if needed I could just claim this back from my insurance.
Now when it came to the car, I ended up with a Citroen C3 which was pretty gutless (but then again most things would be considering I drive a 330d with 673nm!). I went over the car with a fine tooth combe which I'm glad I did as it was littered with battle scars - some pretty obvious and others not so. The car was black so needless to say it showed up every little mark and blemish. I must've gone round the car four times and I marked down on the form they gave me every single thing. The diagram of the car was pretty much covered in circles and crosses by the time I'd finished with it! I also took photos of everything as there was no way I was being stitched up. The woman that dealt with me was quite amused by my drawings.
On returning the car, I fuelled it up when we got back (there was a fuel station right next to the rental place) and a chap came out with all the paperwork, had a quick look over the car (no where near as thourouh as I did) and all was good. Paperwork was signed off by both of us and we were shuttled back to the airport.
All in all a hassle free experience and a pleasant company to deal with, but I think thats down to me doing my homework and taking my time to check and document everything (there was another couple picking a car up at the same time and they were gone in no time! So God knows how they got on when they returned cos they obviously didn't really check everything).
Thanks for all the advice - and to anyone thinking of hiring a car in Spain, you can save a shit load of money by going for one of the cheap small companies but for God sake do your homework and when you pick the car up take your time and dont sign the check sheet until you are absolutely certain you've got every last mark, dent or scratch, and also photograph everything. I even took a picture of the odometer to verify the start mileage.
On a side note, what is it with all the cars in Spain? Pretty much every other car on the road has got big dents and massive scratches down the side of them! Do the Spanish not know how to drive or something?
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