Do you need to keep in touch with your loved ones while traveling in Spain? There are several options available for making international calls here. Things are made much easier if you have a cell phone compatible with the Spanish network (some older US phones will not be compatible).
First things first: find out if you have a compatible phone. Your phone must be unlocked and compatible with GSM .
Get multiple international phone numbers on one phone
By far the best solution now for making international calls in Spain is the new Toggle Mobile service, which gives you nine international phone numbers on a single SIM.
The most convenient phone and data solution when you are in Spain
If you don’t have time to reserve an order for a special SIM for travel, Telefónica’s Tuenti SIM card is readily available and includes the following:
- 1Gb of data for internet and email on your smartphone
- The first 30 minutes of each phone call in Spain are free
- Free to receive calls from any country.
- Calls to the EU cost 36c per minute (with a connection charge of 60.5c).
- Calls to other countries cost € 1.03 per minute (with a connection charge of 96.8c)
You can get a Tuenti SIM at the Telefónica building on Madrid’s Gran Vía and, I believe, at any Movistar store.
Happy Movil SIM card
Happy Móvil charges 5.8c per minute for calls to landlines in Western Europe, the United States, and Canada and Australia. Calls to cell phones cost 20 cents per minute (5.8 cents to the US and Canada). Taxes are not included in the above cost and there is also a 30c connection charge. Receiving calls is free, no matter where the call comes from.
Advantages of Happy Móvil
- Very easy to use buy the card, put it on your phone and voila you have a Spanish SIM card. Just dial the numbers as usual.
- Low initial cost For € 10 you have a card with € 5 credit that you can start using immediately. According to the Happy Movil website, these € 5 will give you 71.5 minutes of call time for calls charged at 5.8c / min. Please note this is for a continuous call – due to the 30c connection charge, making more calls will not get the full 71.5 minutes.
- Not the cheapest calls. When you add the 30c connection charge and taxes, the price becomes less competitive.
- Calls within Spain are also cheap : calls cost 15c / minute at any time of the day (10c / minute to other Happy Móvil users), plus taxes.
Get a STA cell phone with international calling SIM
STA has several options available to you, starting with a Siemens phone and a SIM card for less than $ 30.
Buy a STA cell phone with international SIM. The STA phone and SIM package features include:
- Buy a STA cell phone with international SIM
- A Siemens A70 cell phone that will work anywhere in the world.
- SIM comes preloaded with $ 10 of calling credit.
- Receiving calls in Spain is free.
Friends and family can call you from the US for free to a toll-free number (free for 30 minutes, after that you’ll pay 49 cents per minute, but it’s still free for them).
Use a calling card from a phone booth or hotel room
These are for sale at most convenience stores and are a popular option. They can occasionally work cheaper than a call shop, but often they don’t. They have the advantage of working on any phone, but they are not always reliable and if you do not spend all your minutes before returning home, then you have wasted money.
Visit a call shop
Call centers are public telephone centers that have private phone booths from which you can call home. They are generally very cheap, although a very small minority try to scam you, check the price before making your call). You will be billed when you leave and you can make as many calls as you like. These centers also usually have internet. This is the method that I personally use as I only have to pay for the calls that I have made.
Rent or buy a phone
Enter any telephone store in Spain and buy a telephone. Phones can cost as little as € 40. Then get a Happy Móbil SIM card or a Euro direct calling card. Companies like OnSpanishTime.com will rent you a mobile phone if you prefer. They also provide 800 free minutes to call back to the US and Canada for each rental.