Possible to bring a rented van to Spain?

No.

Wouldn't it be far more efficient to rent the van in Spain? By renting it here and sailing you are effectively paying for 4 days where it will be tied up on the boat.

Me and a few friends rented a van in Galway from a place near the docks. We drove it to France / Italy for a month. I didn’t actually rent the van myself I just paid my share but I was insured on it and they knew we were taking it to France and Italy. This was 6 or 7 years ago. The company was vanhire.ie as far as I remember.

Yeah they were pretty easy going from what I remember. We told them we were going to put a massive roof rack on it as well and they fine with it.

That's a pity. I thought this was a problem solved scenario.

It was a joke Einstein.

Helps if you have a sense of humour and enough intelligence to spot a flippant remark from serious one, apologies if I've offended 2 posters here without either.

it’s all to do with insurance companies and risk assessment and retrieval of vehicle in case of incapacitation of driver etc. I don’t know what the current situation is, but, eg, in 1990s and early 2000s German car hirers would under no circumstances allow rental cars to be brought into Poland where driving standards were much lower and risk much higher. Insurance companies would look at the country being traversed of highest risk when making a risk assessment. To attempt to hire a vehicle out of the terms of insurance means that in the event of an accident your insurance would be good. When hiring a vehicle it’s not a matter of “getting away with it”. Even bringing a hired car from Northern Ireland to ROI and vice versa can be an issue if you don’t check the terms.

Long story short, no, it's not possible. Unless you can beg, borrow or steal a van, you can't rent one to bring on the continent.

Cute statement- but buying one is probably a better option!

So what? I already hashed this out with the only other poster here who took exception.