PAYG SIM card in Spain

Warrington-Mike

Does anyone know where you can get aSpanish PAYG SIM card or similar? I am going to be over there for a few weeks and dont fancy paying all the incoming charges on my mobile - when I can give work/freinds a Spanish number to call me on...

benjus

Major Spanish mobile operators are:

• Movistar (www.movistar.es) - an offshoot of the Spanish telecoms company Telefonica. They have shops in most towns.
• Vodafone (www.vodafone.es) - also have shops in most towns
• Orange (www.orange.es) - also have shops in most towns
• Yoigo (www.yoigo.es) - good for Internet access as it is capped at €1.20/day. You can buy SIM cards at branches of Carrefour (www.carrefour.es) and The Phone House (www.phonehouse.es)
• Carrefour and The Phone House also offer own-brand SIM cards (Carrefour Movil and Happy Movil respectively)

It's a good idea to take ID with you when buying a SIM card. Some (e.g. Vodafone) are very easy to get, but others (e.g. Yoigo) are a bit more fussy - I think you need a Spanish address.

You can buy credits at Locutorios (Internet Cafes), some Tabacconists, some supermarkets, and there are a few machines in the street to do this. ATMs also have the option to buy mobile phone credit but this doesn't generally work with UK cards.

benjus

By the way, the Spanish term for PAYG is tarjeta, which means card. Contract are contratos.

The different companies offer the same bewildering array of tariffs as they do in the UK. Personally I think the Yoigo tariffs are good - €0.12/min to Spanish landline or mobile, €0.30/min international, €0.10 per text. I had some issues with Yoigo last year, as none of the cheap-rate numbers for calling from the UK would work, but this problem seems to have been sorted out now, and I haven't had any problems recently.

LesD

Also, if you're not in a major city, check reception where you will be.