Road rage

Here's the problem:

My friends and I are going to Spain on Sunday. I was slated to be one of the two drivers, the other being licensed but slightly unfamiliar with automatic, left-hand drive cars. Two weeks ago Monday, I rushed my application for an International Driving Permit to Florida, where AAA keeps its offices.

Cut to today. With less than 72 hours before departure, the IDP has yet to arrive, and I'm literally losing sleep.

Why do I need this stupid piece of paper? Depending on who you talk to, I don't - the rental car companies generally won't ask for it, and many sites say you can get by without it. AAA, of course, says that it's necessary, and the US government site about it strongly recommends it. Apparently, you can get by with only a US license in most parts of Europe, but Spain is one of those countries whose cops will get more than a little ticked off if you don't have an IDP.

What is it? From what I've gathered, it's a translation page. I sent copies of my license and passport-style photos, and AAA is supposed to send me this official copy for the benefit of non-English speakers. The big thing is the date format; my license (thanks again, DMV), is set to expire on May 3. By European dating convention, this looks like March 5.

Beyond the gray area of legality, my parents have stepped in and said I can't drive without it because I'm still on their insurance. Our rental car comes with CDW - it's usually required for drivers under 25 - but the problem is that if we are in a major wreck, the waiver won't cover everything, and we might be looking at several hundred to over a thousand dollars to pick up ourselves. I don't even know if the folks' insurance would do any good in that case, but they've spoken, and since they're still footing the bills, I'm stuck.

The panic started to set in yesterday, when my mailbox still hadn't yielded an Express Mail envelope. An alternative to the IDP, I noticed, is an official Spanish translation of the license, so I thought I could run down to the US Consulate in Edinburgh today and see if they might be able to help me out. Unfortunately, the Consulate is closed for renovations until the beginning of April, and my IDP doesn't exactly qualify as an emergency. More disconcertingly still, the checks I sent to Florida haven't cleared on my online account page yet.

So I'm at the mercy of Royal Mail, praying that something arrives out of the blue before Sunday morning. I'm out of options, our other driver is not amused, and frankly I don't know what to do. Suggestions are welcome.