Buying a SIM card in Barcelona

At the airport we bought our SIM card, and all staff speaks perfect English. As we remember we paid 2 years ago around $ 15 for the card. It was all done in less then 10 minutes and with no stress. Don't enter in to the city with these kind of wishes, not many shops speak English. (Tip, try to book a hotel near the Ramblas) Dr. Missier Vijay Karel Maddipoti & Aishwarya Koes Rambhatla Paragh

They are more expensive at the airport. I am in Spain now, and have used Orange and Tuenti. It will be around $10 euros for 1 gb and calls. Plenty for one week. When you get into town, just go into any of the phone stores and ask about prepaid cards with no contract. Vodafone is the most expensive. Orange is fine. They are very easy to find. The data will be in english if your phone is in english! The challenge is dealing with the people in the stores. You will need to know at least SOME Spanish to accomplish this. Download the app iTranslate - both apple and android. Great app! you can type in what you want to say in english and the spanish translation will appear. If you can't pronounce it, you can just show it to the person. You will need to have data though. It won't work without internet - but it will work on your phone if you have internet at the hotel you are staying at. Use free wifi whenever you can - that way your data amount lasts longer. It uses up a lot of data when navigating w/googlemaps.

"Quiero una chip por mi telefono" - I want a chip for my telephone.

I am in Barcelona right now and I'm using a SIM card from Orange. I tried first to buy a Vodaphone card because I had heard that their network was the best, but when I got here there was some problem with their inventory and none of the stores had any prepaid SIM cards. I bought mine in the El Corte Ingles mega-department store right on the Placa de Catalunya (6th floor?). The staff was very knowledgeable and helpful but I was speaking in Spanish to them, so I don't know how good their English is. If you're going to try to communicate only in English about buying a SIM card, I would suggest El Corte Ingles, since it's right in the heart of tourist land. BTW, there are at least three El Corte Ingles stores in central Barcelona. Only the huge one has a phone department. You can't miss it.

I paid 15 Euros for 1G of data (no phone calls). I have my current Iphone which I can use to call the US if I need to (I don't plan on it), so I only wanted data so I could use apps and my maps on my phone for directions. I've had no problems so far, although my old Iphone (my current one isn't unlocked) is slower than snot, which isn't the fault of Orange. Once you buy the card, all the info they provide you will be in Spanish. I don't think they have anything in English, but maybe because I was speaking Spanish they just gave me that brochure? I asked them to change the settings in my phone so everything I got from the carrier would be in English, but I'm still getting Spanish. I get texts every few days or so, but they're nothing important, just more "reminders" to add more money which I don't need to do. You can always go back to the store if you have problems.

Hope this helps!!!