My daughter is studying abroad in Barcelona for the semester. Her cell phone was stolen last night. We are going to visit next week and will bring a new phone with us because we are unsure about sending. She has already gone to three stores who say they do not understand what she is asking about. She is looking to purchase a prepaid phone for a short term. She doesn’t want a plan. She just wants to have a phone for a week that she can add minutes to. I know they exist. Can anyone please advise as to where she may be able to go to purchase one? And what she should be asking for as perhaps it’s a language barrier Thanks so much.
Posted by
Barcelona (Catalonia)
2939 posts
"Línia de prepagament" (in Catalan, the local language), roughly "lee-nee-ah-duh-pre-pah-gah-men"
https://www.phonehouse.es/tiendas/barcelona.html
Ensure the phone you bring is "unlocked" (a.k.a. "free"), otherwise, if it's locked to a particular company in the US, she won't be able to use the SIM card from any other company over here. In any case, why wouldn't you send it instead? It's faster.
Alternatively, purchasing many smartphones over here might be cheaper than in the US.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
If she can borrow an old phone from someone for a week, she could buy a prepaid SIM card for it so she can have mobile data at least and use WhatsApp, Skype, etc. for voice calls. The phone must be unlocked.
Here is some info on the local mobile companies in Spain.
https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Spain
Otherwise, I would just have her walk into an Orange or Vodafone store and tell them she wants the cheapest possible phone to use for a week. Here's a cheap Moto E5 she might find at an Orange store. I have used a few similar Moto phones myself. Pretty basic phone for the money. She could get it "Libre" (no contract) and use it with a SIM card for 129 Euros - or get it "with card" for 94 euros. Not sure if that means it's a prepaid Orange card or not, but that might be a better deal, obviously, as she wouldn't have to buy a SIM:
https://tiendaonline2.orange.es/store/moviles-motorola/moto-e5-gris