Buying a Spanish SIM card for the Camino: Experiences purchasing from the US

[crhutch]

I am planning a trip to Spain this spring which will include walking the camino. In the past I would purchase a sim card once I was in Spain. This time however I will not be able to purchase a sim card for a few days after I arrive. Has anyone from the USA purchased a sim card BEFORE arriving in Spain? I’d be interested in who you purchased from and how was the experience. I should add that I read on simtourist.com that “by law, you cannot buy SIM cards outside of Spain”. Yet I see many sites that will sell Spanish sim card outside of Spain.

Thanks!

 

[J Willhaus]

You may want to look through the phone and sim card threads. I remember several where people indicated that they bought a sim card outside of Spain and it did not work or did not work properly once they arrived and crossed the border. I see we've been hospitaleros at some of the same places in the past. If you are in another EU country, you might be able to buy a card there that will work in Spain per recent posts on this topic, but there are apparently drawbacks. We just use our US service's international plan while in Spain. It is more expensive, but for me less hassle.

 

[Former member 92300]

People have bought European SIMS from Amazon and other places. I hear mixed reports on how easy they are to activate. I just use my regular phone plan with international calling. It is expensive, but reliable and easy to keep in touch with those I need to keep in touch with. Works very well in Spain and everywhere in Europe that I have travelled.

 

[crhutch]

You may want to look through the phone and sim card threads. I remember several where people indicated that they bought a sim card outside of Spain and it did not work or did not work properly once they arrived and crossed the border. I see we've been hospitaleros at some of the same places in the past. If you are in another EU country, you might be able to buy a card there that will work in Spain per recent posts on this topic, but there are apparently drawbacks. We just use our US service's international plan while in Spain. It is more expensive, but for me less hassle.

Yes I see we’ve both volunteered at Grañón and Zamora.

My carrier is Verizon and my experience with them is rather lousy hence the sim.

 

[J Willhaus]

Yes, it appears Verizon and ATT have a similar international program. It is pricey, but worked better for us due to family and my work. At one point we had T Mobile which was much better and had low cost calls and free data in Spain. Moved to a US location where it was not available so stuck now with ATT.

 

[mla1]

There was an interesting thread a while back about eSims. You keep your normal phone number for phone calls and texting, but you use the eSIM for data. I cannot really explain how it works. But it sounds like a good option if you’re not going to make many calls.

 

[Wendy Werneth]

Yes eSIMs do seem to be a good option, but check first to see if your phone supports them (mine doesn't, so I haven't had a chance to try them out).

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

There was an interesting thread a while back about eSims. You keep your normal phone number for phone calls and texting, but you use the eSIM for data.

If your phone has dual SIM capabilies adding a second, overseas, number is my recommendation. Dual SIM could be either two physical SIM slots, a physical SIM and an eSIM, or just an eSIM that allows multiple connections.

This link brings you to a list of forum threads that have the word eSIM in the title.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/search/3173562/?q=esim&c[title_only]=1&o=date

 

[flewitheagles]

I have not used it in Spain but in a recent trip to Europe I used Airalo with seamless ease. My phone handled a complete eSim but my wife's phone needed a different (older) setup. It is for data only (my use - there may be a phone option), cheap, available for specific countries (or Western Europe). It works fine for maps (I've used google), and Watsapp - which is internet based, email and internet - with all its applications. A person buys by the Gigabyte but easily can upgrade. I'm going to Europe again in March and doing another Camino in May. I'm using it until I determine something better (and I'll be watching)....

 

[David Tallan]

I am planning a trip to Spain this spring which will include walking the camino. In the past I would purchase a sim card once I was in Spain. This time however I will not be able to purchase a sim card for a few days after I arrive. Has anyone from the USA purchased a sim card BEFORE arriving in Spain? I’d be interested in who you purchased from and how was the experience. I should add that I read on simtourist.com that “by law, you cannot buy SIM cards outside of Spain”. Yet I see many sites that will sell Spanish sim card outside of Spain.

Thanks!

I wonder if you buy a SIM card from a Spanish website and they ship/mail it to you, if it still legally counts as buying the SIM card outside of Spain.

Before my 2016 Camino, I bought SIM cards online and had them shipped to Canada. The experience wasn't terrible, but in setting it up myself I missed nuances that I might not have missed had I bought it in a store and had them set it up for me. Like the nuance where you might want to turn off the setting that requires the input of the password that came with the SIM every time you restart your phone. Fortunately, I still was able to find the password.

For my 2018 Camino, I picked up the SIM card in the airport upon arrival.

 

[Charlie Davenport]

There is no law about buying outside of Spain ... However, make sure it is compliant with the requirement it works in all of the EU otherwise you may have problems... Maybe a schedule adjustment allowing for time to buy the sim in the arrival airport might be best... I researched buying on in US and found no positive thoughts..

 

[Keith H]

I have not used it in Spain but in a recent trip to Europe I used Airalo with seamless ease. My phone handled a complete eSim but my wife's phone needed a different (older) setup. It is for data only (my use - there may be a phone option), cheap, available for specific countries (or Western Europe). It works fine for maps (I've used google), and Watsapp - which is internet based, email and internet - with all its applications. A person buys by the Gigabyte but easily can upgrade. I'm going to Europe again in March and doing another Camino in May. I'm using it until I determine something better (and I'll be watching)....

I used Airalo on a recent trip to Prague and it worked great. It’s esim only so you need a compatible phone (ie iPhone XR or later Samsung S20 or later). It was easy to set up and use. Good luck

 

[flewitheagles]

I've been a little negligent in checking this thread, but I hadn't heard of the issue about buying (not buying) outside Spain. In 2019 I flew into England (I "bum" rides with the US Air Force when I can) and I purchased a Vidafone (sp?) sim card and used it in Portugal and Spain without problems. No one ever challenged me on its use and it worked well. I'll admit I'm not very smart about checking on those things and my sim card was supposed to be for Western Europe. As I noted above, I've moved to Airalo for ease of purchase and quick use on arrival.

 

[Keith H]

I've been a little negligent in checking this thread, but I hadn't heard of the issue about buying (not buying) outside Spain. In 2019 I flew into England (I "bum" rides with the US Air Force when I can) and I purchased a Vidafone (sp?) sim card and used it in Portugal and Spain without problems. No one ever challenged me on its use and it worked well. I'll admit I'm not very smart about checking on those things and my sim card was supposed to be for Western Europe. As I noted above, I've moved to Airalo for ease of purchase and quick use on arrival.

Not getting those flights is one of the regrets of not doing a full stint in the AF. I met some seriously interesting people on Stand-by flights.