Vodafone - Setting for crossing from Portugal to Spain

[702Jenn]

I searched but wasn't able to find an answer. This past summer I bought a 2 week Vodafone card at OPO for 20€. It worked great in Portugal but stopped working when I crossed into Spain. Does the OPO Vodafone store sell a SIM that works in both Portugal and Spain?

 

[ivar]

I searched but wasn't able to find an answer. This past summer I bought a 2 week Vodafone card at OPO for 20€. It worked great in Portugal but stopped working when I crossed into Spain. Does the OPO Vodafone store sell a SIM that works in both Portugal and Spain?

Did you turn on roaming on the first card you got (in your phone settings)? It should work in Spain as well...

 

[702Jenn]

Did you turn on roaming on the first card you got (in your phone settings)? It should work in Spain as well...

Maybe that was the problem? I ended up buying another Vodafone card in Spain which worked fine.

 

[Bradypus]

Did you turn on roaming on the first card you got (in your phone settings)? It should work in Spain as well...

A few years back I was using a Portuguese SIM which stopped working after Tui until I remembered to change my phone settings. Sometimes we forget that there are national borders because we no longer have to pass through physical checkpoints...

 

[702Jenn]

A few years back I was using a Portuguese SIM which stopped working after Tui until I remembered to change my phone settings. Sometimes we forget that there are national borders because we no longer have to pass through physical checkpoints...

Good to know. Thank you!

 

[jungleboy]

Did you turn on roaming on the first card you got (in your phone settings)? It should work in Spain as well...

This is correct. A SIM bought in Portugal will work in Spain (or any other EU country) just as it does in Portugal but you do need to switch on roaming first.

 

[JCLima]

Make sure you are buying a sim card that can make calls/texts

If it is just a data sim card (no calls/text) then it won't work in Spain.

 

[702Jenn]

This is correct. A SIM bought in Portugal will work in Spain (or any other EU country) just as it does in Portugal but you do need to switch on roaming first.

Thank you!

 

[henrythedog]

Thank you!

Last time just turned my phone off when crossing the bridge into Spain and turned it on again ten minutes later. The time before I couldn’t connect as my phone was still searching for the Portuguese signal.

 

[702Jenn]

Wow, I literally had no idea about all this. thank you so much.

 

[camino07]

I knew nothing about the roaming after buying a sim in Lisbon then had to buy another in Spain.

 

[jungleboy]

Your provider should send you a text message when you arrive in a different EU country outlining the procedure. For example, here is the English half of the message I receive from MEO when I arrive in another EU country. Admittedly, it could be more specific in telling you to turn roaming on.

 

[702Jenn]

I knew nothing about the roaming after buying a sim in Lisbon then had to buy another in Spain.

Same here.

 

[MarkinPortugal]

Maybe that was the problem? I ended up buying another Vodafone card in Spain which worked fine.

My Portuguese cell phone works in Spain no problem.

 

[stevelm1]

I had a similar issue when using a Vodafone sim from Spain. When I went into France the voice functions still worked but I lost data/internet. I tried to resolve the issue both at a Vodafone store and on line but the issue was never resolved. Next time I am going to Europe I will keep using AT&T.

 

[702Jenn]

Your provider should send you a text message when you arrive in a different EU country outlining the procedure. For example, here is the English half of the message I receive from MEO when I arrive in another EU country. Admittedly, it could be more specific in telling you to turn

I had a similar issue when using a Vodafone sim from Spain. When I went into France the voice functions still worked but I lost data/internet. I tried to resolve the issue both at a Vodafone store and on line but the issue was never resolved. Next time I am going to Europe I will keep using AT&T.

You'd think that the Spain Vodafone store would have helped me with the problem, but better for them to make a sale, I reckon.

 

[t2andreo]

The EU works as one zone or a defacto single country - EXCEPT when it doesn't. Postal systems and cellphone systems are just two major examples of the irony. The traveler needs to do their research and be aware of these disconnects.

Hope this helps.

Tom

 

[SabsP]

The EU works as one zone or a defacto single country - EXCEPT when it doesn't. Postal systems and cellphone systems are just two major examples of the irony. The travelert needs to do their research and be aware of these disconnects.

Hope this helps.

Tom

The EU de facto does not work as one single country. Therein lies the difference. There is no irony.

The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states.

European Union - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[LesR]

I searched but wasn't able to find an answer. This past summer I bought a 2 week Vodafone card at OPO for 20€. It worked great in Portugal but stopped working when I crossed into Spain. Does the OPO Vodafone store sell a SIM that works in both Portugal and Spain?

I had a simialr problem in 2018 - had been told hat it was an EU requirement that SIMS cards work in all EU countries ... Went to to a phone shop not long after we entered Spain (maybe Vigo?), and was told the "it happens frequently". Bought another SIM card and all went well from there - even worked in Potugal when we retuned to Lisbon.

Most likely a case of "crap happens...".

 

[702Jenn]

I had a simialr problem in 2018 - had been told hat it was an EU requirement that SIMS cards work in all EU countries ... Went to to a phone shop not long after we entered Spain (maybe Vigo?), and was told the "it happens frequently". Bought another SIM card and all went well from there - even worked in Potugal when we retuned to Lisbon.

Most likely a case of "crap happens...".

So, that's pretty much the same thing that happened to me. Vigo was the city where I got the new SIM, and the clerk there said something similar to me. Interesting. It was only another 15 or 20 Euro, so not a huge deal.

 

[t2andreo]

The EU de facto does not work as one single country. Therein lies the difference. There is no irony.

The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of 27 member states.

European Union - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I will stand corrected.

Thanks

Tom

 

[margoteakar]

I searched but wasn't able to find an answer. This past summer I bought a 2 week Vodafone card at OPO for 20€. It worked great in Portugal but stopped working when I crossed into Spain. Does the OPO Vodafone store sell a SIM that works in both Portugal and Spain?

You can buy a Euro sim I used this had no problems crossing from Spain into Portugal

 

[gml]

With roaming on, the data on my Portuguese Vodaphone sim still stopped working when I crossed the bridge into Spain (I didn't test the phone function). Now I use an international data-only sim from a company called Keepgo. There is no monthly fee: you pay only for the data, and the data never expires as long as you add a minimum US$3 data top-up once a year. For phoning/messaging, I use a phone app that gives me a free phone number, free calls in/between Canada and the US (I live in Canada), and cheap calls (e.g., 1-3 cents/minute) in Europe and most other countries. It works beautifully and seamlessly from one country to another.

 

[702Jenn]

Thanks for the tip!!