Things
to watch out for when purchasing a mobile phone in Spain;
1. Ask
if it is open 'libre' or not
2. Make
sure you get your instruction book in your own language
(most dealers will give a photocopy in your language or a link to download a copy)
3. Ask
for your guarantee card and get it stamped and dated
by the dealer
4. If
purchasing second-hand, make sure it is a digital phone
and not an obsolete analogue phone and make sure you get a Spanish charger
5. Make
sure you have the PIN numbers with the phone and make
a note of them. Keep the surround from the simcard in case you ever need to stop the number
Call
charges
Call charge plans are quite difficult to understand, however,
here are a few pointers:
Prepaid
and contract rate plans have two groups: hourly rates
and universal rates. The cost of your calls will depend
on when you call. Hourly rates divide the day
into several time segments each with its associated price
per minute. For example, for its prepaid users, Vodafone
breaks up the day into 3 segments: 0:00-6:00, 6:00-16:00
and 16:00-24:00. Tariffs are much lower in the early morning
and late in the day and are at their peak during business
hours. Universal rates are simpler in that they offer
one fixed rate regardless of the time of day, but this
is on average higher.
Call costs also depend on the destination. There are different
rates depending whether you called a fixed line, to mobiles
with the same company and to other mobiles. Calls to mobiles
with the same operator are the cheapest while calls to
mobiles outside that operator are the most expensive,
so it can be worth finding out what operator your best
friends use).
A few other very important notes regarding calling rates,
except for special promotions, all providers:
charge
around €0.12 to establish the call,
charge around €0.15 per domestic SMS, unlike other countries
sending a SMS abroad is not the same price! and
charge 16% IVA (18% in Jan 2011) (value-added tax) on top of their publicised
rates.
If you are taking your UK mobile abroad with you, there is a cheaper alternative; You can purchase a Spanish SimCard and have it sent to your UK address. You simply use this whilst in Spain and will save a small fortune. You can save up to 90% on call charges and can purchase a pay-as-you-go SimCard or a monthly contract.
What to do if your mobile phone is stolen in Spain here
