Spain eSIM: mobile data on Movistar and Orange

Every plan on this page, the day pass and each fixed plan, connects to the same two Spanish networks: Movistar and Orange. The catalog lists both as 5G networks and the plans allow 5G, so you get 5G where the network you're on has it and 4G/LTE where it doesn't. Two networks also give you a fallback: if Orange struggles inside your apartment in Valencia's old town, turn off automatic network selection and pick Movistar, or the other way around.

Where your traffic leaves for the internet is a separate matter. For every Spain plan sold here, the catalog lists France, the Netherlands and the UK as exits, and none of them is Spain. A website can therefore see a French, Dutch or British address while you're standing in Seville. Maps, messaging and email don't mind. A Spanish bank app, a regional TV channel's streaming site or a ticket shop that sets prices by country might treat you as a visitor from abroad.

After you select a plan, its networks and IP address appear under Technical specs. If a Spanish IP is a must for something you rely on, ask support before paying; it answers 24/7.

Spain plans come in two shapes:

• The day pass: 1 GB a day at full speed, then 512 Kbps for the rest of that day, with full speed back when the day resets. You choose how many days it covers when you pick it in the plan picker.
• Fixed plans: one data amount for one term. A week comes with 1 GB, 15 days with 2 or 3 GB, and 30 days with 3, 5, 10, 20 or 50 GB. The longest Spain plan holds 50 GB for 180 days.

A long weekend in Madrid or Barcelona

For three or four days of metro routes, museum tickets and dinner reservations, the 1 GB plan for a week is the natural fit, and it's the smallest Spain plan on offer. Hotel Wi-Fi can take the video calls home.

Two weeks in Andalusia, then the islands

A route through Seville, Córdoba and Granada, followed by a few days on Mallorca or Tenerife, means navigation on the road and photos sent from the beach. The 15-day plans hold 2 or 3 GB for that. If some days will be much heavier than others, the day pass is easier, since each day starts again with a full gigabyte.

A semester, a Camino walk or a winter on the coast

Students spending a term in Salamanca, walkers on a long Camino de Santiago route and anyone wintering on the Costa del Sol need data for more than a month. Take the 50 GB plan for 180 days, or start with a 30-day plan of 20 or 50 GB and top it up when it runs low.

No plan on this page starts counting at purchase or at installation. The day pass and every fixed plan, from the 1 GB week to the 180-day plan, begin their days at the first connection to Movistar or Orange in Spain. So scan the QR code at home, over your own Wi-Fi, a few days before the flight; the eSIM sits idle until the plane lands in Madrid or Málaga.

Bought much earlier? The Unused plans row under Technical specs gives each Spain plan 180 days to be used. Hold off on installing until your dates are firm: a refund on request, within 30 days of purchase, is possible only for an eSIM that hasn't been installed or connected.

When the data runs low, add more instead of starting over. Every Spain plan sold here tops up, the day pass included, and the extra data lands on the eSIM you already have, without a second QR code. Top-ups come out of your SIMAREA balance, which you fund with crypto.

We don't rank the plans, because the right one depends on the trip. Four questions settle it:

1. How long are you in Spain? Fixed plans cover a week, 15 days, 30 days or 180 days. The day pass runs for the number of days you set.
2. Is your use steady or uneven? A fixed amount lets you spend little on beach days and a lot on travel days. If every day looks alike, 1 GB a day at full speed is easier to plan around.
3. Does a Spanish IP matter? Not one plan here has one; they all exit in France, the Netherlands or the UK. For most travelers that changes nothing.
4. Are you leaving Spain? A Spain plan ends at the border, which matters for Gibraltar, Portugal and Morocco. The next section covers those trips.

Unsure how much you use? The trip data calculator turns your daily habits into a gigabyte figure.

A Spain plan works in Spain only. Several favorite side trips cross a border, and each one needs its own coverage:

• Gibraltar is a separate destination with its own Gibraltar plans, even though it's a short walk from La Línea.
• Andorra, in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, has Andorra plans of its own.
• Portugal and France each have country plans: Portugal for Lisbon or the Algarve, France for Biarritz or Paris.
• Morocco, a ferry ride from Tarifa or Algeciras, has its own Morocco plans.

For a route through several countries, one eSIM saves switching. The Europe eSIM plans cover many European countries at once. The Coverage row under Plan details lists every country of the plan you select, so check Spain and each other stop there before you buy.

The Global 130 eSIM lists Spain together with Portugal, France, Gibraltar and Morocco, though not Andorra. In Spain it has four networks instead of two, Movistar, Orange, Vodafone and Yoigo, the last on 4G. Its traffic exits in the UK or Norway, and its fixed plans run from 7 to 365 days.