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Vodafone issues

naplesdon

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Multiple Caminos 2010 to 2019
I purchased a Vodafone simcard for my iPhone in Madrid on 25 Feb for 20 euros and an additional package for 15 euros that gave me 60 minutes of national and international calls, 3 GB of data and xyz SMS minutes. I used up all the time in 3 weeks making calls and sending photos from my iPhone just to see how the program works for my upcoming Camino in June, July and August. Everything was just great until I ran out of minutes and tried to refill my phone. I found they do not accept anything but Spanish credit cards for making online refills and when I went to the only phone shop in Sahagun today they did not have the international refill cards.
Anyone else with similar experiences?
I am an Orange user in France but if you let your plan lapse for 60 days, which I did, you lose your number. I think when I return to Spain I will get an Orange or Moviestar simcard in Pamplona.
 
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I'm not sure I understand. I've never had a problem in Sahagun or anywhere upping my minutes. You just give them your number and pay. You don't need a new card. But, that's for only local calls - I use internet like Skype or Facebook for chatting up people. It's free.
 
I recharged my Voda minutes in a small shop in O Cavado. My problem was the minutes vanishing with ultra minimal use. Lady at the shop said it happens a lot which is why pay as go you is not used a lot these days.
 
Camino Jewellery
A selection of Camino Jewellery

I used Vodafone. Just 'recharge' at most corner stores/newsagents. Give them the phone number and some cash and it is done in 30 secs....
 

Don, the Spanish SIM card I got the first time (Orange) at Barajas drove me nuts. When I finally FOUND the store, the guy tending the shop left me standing at the Orange desk for 10 minutes before it became apparent that there was wasn't anyone staffing that desk (we were the only 2 people in the shop). The guy didn't know any details and said "I just sell them". The instructions were in Spanish. The text messages started coming in in Spanish on Day 5, so in Pamplona I went for help at the Orange store and sat for 45 minutes with my little ticket and 5 other customers while the staff seemed to be on break. I'd hardly used the phone at all, and my offline translator didn't work with the new SIM, so I ended up calling home and adding my international service to my old plan for a month. Had similar trouble with one in Thailand, and just don't like them.
 
Something has changed in the past year. I don't know if it has to do with heightened security concerns or what. But it is a requirement to show your passport or EIN to get a simcard and logging on to recharge is virtually impossible. The corner shop convenience seems to have ended, at least in France. In November when I tried to recharge at a news agent I had used for years, they sent me to a phone store. You can't maintain your number for more than 60 days if you don't keep recharging or you are SOL. The Americanization of yet another feature of Europe, perhaps.
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
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