david lloyd Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Some years ago it was reasonably cheap and easy to purchase a sim card on one of the Spanish networks to use in your own phone and the calls back to England were much cheaper than using a UK sim card. Is this still the case? When we go on our trip to Spain would there be any advantage in buying a Spanish sim card - especially to receive calls from the family here in the UK? If so, any advice as to which companies etc? Many thanks in advance, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 If you take a laptop with you, you may find it is cheaper to SKYPE the family?? PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyR Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Or take your smart phone and use one of the many free wi-fi areas (bars in particular) to skype. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 My o2 Mobile costs 35p a minute to make calls and 18p a minute to receive calls all over Europe, I used to get SIMs in al the Countries I visited but now it seems hardly worth the bother, all my texts are free to send anywhere in Europe too.So for me I just have my o2 Mobile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 vindiboy - 2011-11-13 11:18 PM My o2 Mobile costs 35p a minute to make calls and 18p a minute to receive calls all over Europe, I used to get SIMs in al the Countries I visited but now it seems hardly worth the bother, all my texts are free to send anywhere in Europe too.So for me I just have my o2 Mobile. Most operators including 02 reduced the receiving rate this year to 11p. I text people and ask them to call me. Also if you are a heavy user can be worth paying £10 for a month of 02's European add-on, free to receive calls and about 18p/min to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 lennyhb - 2011-11-14 9:14 AM vindiboy - 2011-11-13 11:18 PM My o2 Mobile costs 35p a minute to make calls and 18p a minute to receive calls all over Europe, I used to get SIMs in al the Countries I visited but now it seems hardly worth the bother, all my texts are free to send anywhere in Europe too.So for me I just have my o2 Mobile. Most operators including 02 reduced the receiving rate this year to 11p. I text people and ask them to call me. Also if you are a heavy user can be worth paying £10 for a month of 02's European add-on, free to receive calls and about 18p/min to make. 11 p a minute to receive calls, that's more good news then,thanks for that. The problem with buying SIMS in each Country was that I always had some credit left at the end of a stay in a particular Country and usually lost it because of not going back there before it expired, so as I said I am happy to use my SIM only o2 phone , £15 a month, 300 free mins and 300 free texts in Uk.also free texts all over Europe, too. It also has Internet too,but I have never used that,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 Thanks for all the replies - seems the answer is not to bother. We don't need to keep in contact too much and will have access to WiFi at the site for e-mail. Skype, Smart phone.....err not really. My old phone makes and receives calls and texts. It is Pay as You Go and £10 usually lasts me most of the year! I have invested in £20 top up for texts and, if we need to make a call home, I can always top up over there or get a ohone card for the landline phone. Once again, many thanks everyone. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted November 18, 2011 Share Posted November 18, 2011 There's another problem with buying "Pay as you go" SIM cards in Spain............ After the 7M bombings at Madrid railway station a few years ago, the investigators found that all the bombs had been set off by remote controllers ringing mobile phones doctored as detonators attached to each rucksack bomb. They could tell from call records which phone numbers had been used, but they couldn't trace the Sim card owners, as phone companies here simply flogged such cards to anyone who came in to their shops and paid the (say) 20 euros for the card (which typically included about 18 euros of pre-loaded credit). So the Spanish Government changed the rules; thus all mobile phone companies here now have to get and keep lots of personal data on anyone buying a PAYG ( or contract) SIM card. (People who already owned them had a 12 month window to give the personal data to their provider...if they hadn't done it by the end of this window, the SIM card was deactivated). The fact that you don't have a Spanish NIE (sort of national insurance/tax number) number, nor a permanent Spanish address (and proof that you are living at that address, like electricity bills etc), may very well make it a non-starter to try to buy a PAYG SIM card in Spain nowadays as a visitor. As others have said, using Skype on your netbook/laptop/smartphone from a wifi point (such as most McDonalds) in Spain is getting very popular. A surprisingly large number of other bars and restaurants all over Spain now also have free wifi for customers (but you can ask for their password once you've bought a coffee etc...) Given that Spain is such a massive country, the coverage of mobile phone signals is actually very very good indeed......and Spain has one of the highest mobile phone ownership numbers in Europe, but using a mobile here is a LOT more expensive than in the UK. This is mainly due to a lack of competition, as the market was only deregulated 10 years or so ago, and the old state-owned monopoly operator Telefonica/Moviestar is still by far the biggest player. Although calls under your UK contract will be a lot cheaper than a similar Spanish one, do check with your UK provider on EXACTLY how you'll be charged IN TOTAL for both making and receiving calls in each/every other European country you might be visiting...I know a few of my UK friends have had nasty shocks when they got their next bill after having been over here on visits. In particular, if you have a "smartphone", make SURE that "data" receiving is turned off before you leave the UK, as any form of data download/web browsing is usually horrendously expensive if roaming abroad - and that includes "invisible" internet services like satnav/positioning/facebook/weather/news auto updates etc. Also worth keeping a note of what number you should call just in case your mobile is nicked when abroad - to stop you racking up the cost of the thief's calls! Perhaps worth remembering that the letter "i" is pronounced in Spanish like the hard version of the letter "e" in English..........thus here "wifi" is pronounced "wee-fee" rather than "wy-fy". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share Posted November 20, 2011 Thanks BGD you are a wealth of information on Spain and all things Spanish! I'm afraid we are many years behind in terms of communications technology so smart phones, skype etc are not things we own or use. However, for this coing trip we will have access to internet weefee at the main site we are using at La Manga - that should keep us in touch by e-mail regularly. We can make or receive mobile calls in an emergency and use a phone card to make landline calls if absolutely necessary. I thought I could also leave the site telephone number with relatives in case of ememrgency and being out of contact. One day, when I have several weeks to spare, I may try looking at updating our mobile communications but there is just so much to take in! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bojitoes Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Hi david I dont think it has come out in the thread so far but the beauty of Skype is that it is FREE- both to download from Google and to call home from wherever you are in the world. In fact all you need is a decent internet connection in order to make a video call or if the connection is not great you can still normally make a voice only call. Furthermore if you buy a WIfi usb aerial as mentioned in the hints & tips forum recently you will probably be able to make calls from your own van, rather than going to reception or be able to use McD's or other connections without getting out of you van. As someone who is totally ignorant of technology I can honestly say it is a piece of pxxs to download and connectand saves a lot of money to boot. Before you go tell all your family / friends you want to call to download Skype as well. Hope this persuades you to investigate further Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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