Spanish Man Found With Rental Car Missing Since 2021

A Spanish man is under investigation for allegedly keeping a rented car. He reportedly rented the vehicle in Madrid in 2021, and he was found with it in southern Tenerife more than four years later.

Local police in Candelaria were on a routine patrol in the Punta Larga area. They spotted a red Renault Kadjar that looked very dirty, as if it hadn't been moved in a long time. It was properly parked in a parallel spot on Mencey Pelicar street, near Avenida Marítima.

As is standard practice, the officers wrote down the license plate number and checked vehicle databases to see if anything was wrong with the car. They discovered the Renault had been listed as stolen for several years, meaning it had either been stolen or illegally kept. They also found out the car belonged to a rental company.

The traffic database showed that a man had rented the Renault in September 2021. But when the rental period ended, the customer never returned it. So, the rental company filed a police report for misappropriation with the Civil Guard in Madrid.

The local police then searched the area to find out who was using the car. After several tries, officers spoke to someone who pointed them to where the car's driver might live. They rang the doorbell, and a 64-year-old man leaned out from a balcony. An officer asked him if he could hand over the keys to the Kadjar, claiming someone had hit the car. The man handed over the keys, confirming to the police that he was indeed using the car.

The police then prepared their report and submitted it to the proper authorities.