Need UK and Spanish number for my phone living in Spain

TristanD

I am now a Spanish resident (UK national) and need a Spanish phone number due to roaming data restrictions and the fact that Spanish authorities and companies often require a Spanish number to get texts from them. I also want to keep my old UK number. Does anyone have any first hand experience of the best way to do this without having two phones and the associated cost? Thanks.

[Deleted User]

A dual sim phone would be the simplest solution.

As for costs, you'll need to see what sim prices are like in Spain. You'll get a UK sim for a few quid or less, depending on what you need.

Jon_01

All UK networks will stop a UK sim roaming after between 1 to 3 months until it's used on the home network again.
So, unless you come back to the UK a few times a year, it'll be a problem to keep your UK sim working.

eDicky

Jon_01 said:

All UK networks will stop a UK sim roaming after between 1 to 3 months until it's used on the home network again.
So, unless you come back to the UK a few times a year, it'll be a problem to keep your UK sim working.

No network will 'stop' a SIM from roaming, but they have fair usage terms to limit free European roaming to 2-3 continuous months, after which they can start charging.

In my current experience with EE, Three and O2, none of them terminated my 'Roam like at Home' service during 2+ years without returning to UK, perhaps because their terms are not technically practical to implement. EE mention in their monthly texts that the limitation is waived during the pandemic.

eDicky

TristanD said:

I am now a Spanish resident (UK national) and need a Spanish phone number due to roaming data restrictions and the fact that Spanish authorities and companies often require a Spanish number to get texts from them. I also want to keep my old UK number. Does anyone have any first hand experience of the best way to do this without having two phones and the associated cost? Thanks.

To avoid using two phones, or constantly switching SIMs in one, you need a dual-SIM handset, as mentioned. They are commonly available if you buy SIM-free, usually not from a network.

Note that if you want to port your UK number to a different UK network using a PAC, it will only work when the new SIM is active and physically in the UK.