Spanish SIM card for internet access

makeorbrake

I need to acquire a spanish SIM - purely for internet access. What would be the best option?

Ideally, I just need a card that charges a set amount per day - as will only be passing thru Spain for a couple of days next month.

makeorbrake

Just in case anyone else looking for similar, going to get a digi mobil sim for €5 (500Mb) with data top ups possible.

http://www.digimobil.es/internet.php?act=pag-detail&idPage=186

ardmacha

If you are just in Spain for a couple of days and don't need large amounts of data just use an Irish vodafone sim and pay the €3/50MB.

0lddog

makeorbrake wrote: »

Just in case anyone else looking for similar, going to get a digi mobil sim for €5 (500Mb) with data top ups possible.

http://www.digimobil.es/internet.php?act=pag-detail&idPage=186

Thats very interesting

Did you buy it in a digimobil retail outlet ?

Were you asked for any sort of ID / address verification ?

Do you know would the same work in Las Islas Canarias ?

makeorbrake

Hi Olddog. I will find out tomorrow :-)

There's a map on their website that will show the nearest digi mobil outlets for an area - seems that I can't go to any old kiosk/shop - although I will check at the airport.

Re. ID - from what I have read (in researching this) nobody will issue you with a SIM without proper ID - i.e. a passport.

I can't imagine that it would be any different in the Canaries - check their website and see if they have outlets on the islands.

@ardmacha - thanks for that but I suspect that will only be an option for billpay customers?? (i'm prepay). Also - I depend heavily on internet when travelling - as I use it to book hotels and other stuff on the fly - and use it for live google maps - when walking or driving about. That all takes that bit more data.

0lddog

makeorbrake wrote: »

.......Re. ID - from what I have read (in researching this) nobody will issue you with a SIM without proper ID - i.e. a passport. ........

Passport would be fine but I'd be stumped if a local utility bill was requested

Hope it goes to plan for you...please keep us posted

Olddog

makeorbrake

0lddog wrote: »

but I'd be stumped if a local utility bill was requested

jabus - I hope not! ...or else I'm screwed. I'm fairly sure what I read said passport (or local id - which they have there) only. According to this here, they're saying just 'bring a passport'.

0lddog

Meteorbrake, are you back from your travels ?

I'm going to be in the same position as yourself in a few days & would be mightly interested in how you got on with this / hoops that you had to jump through / APN & config and all of that sort of thing.

killbillvol2

I got a sim in a Movistar shop last week. €12 for 1 GB of data. Vodafone do a similar deal. Orange was more expensive. Passport is required. The girl in the shop set up the APN but the details were on the packaging anyway.

0lddog

KB thats very useful to know. Thanks for posting.

makeorbrake

0lddog wrote: »

Meteorbrake, are you back from your travels ?

I'm going to be in the same position as yourself in a few days & would be mightly interested in how you got on with this / hoops that you had to jump through / APN & config and all of that sort of thing.

Hi there. Just back from my travels. As it turned out, on the day, I just didnt feel I had enough time to go tracking down that Digi Mobil location in Malaga. I needed to get sorted out with a sim asap. Went to Estacion Malaga-Maria Zambrano (second last stop on the train line from the airport). There I found both a vodafone and orange outlet. The guy in vodafone hooked me up with a sim with 750Mb data for €15. Like KB said, you have to produce your passport. I didnt get as far as orange so unsure what deal they would have offered. Im sure it would have been straightforward but didnt leave the shop until it was verified as working.

I wanted something with more data allowance as I tend to use google maps heavily on these trips (and that tends to have a higher data usage) but it worked just fine for the two weeks.

Did the very same thing for the week I was in Morocco but although it worked fine 90% of the time, I was confined to 2G (Edge) - and in the early evenings, it was congested and difficult to use.

makeorbrake

Heading back to Spain for another few days. Just wondering if the prepay vodafone sim will still work (used it there a couple of months ago). It had 1 months mobile internet access. What's the chances I can still use the actual credit on it - and burn that up for data? (I know that will be at a high cost - but won't otherwise use the credit anyway).

Or...if I have to top up or buy an add on, how can I do that and what will it cost? Only need access for 5 days.

makeorbrake

Was back that way again recently. Still no options to pick up a sim in Malaga airport (at least, as far as I could see). Stopped off at Mario Zambrano train station. Vodafone shop now closed but orange have a shop there. Picked up a sim with 1 GB data for 10euro.

I found it a bit frustrating to use. To check email, I'd have to try refreshing the screen multiple times. I guess it did the job but I think I'd try a different network next time round...