INTERNET & PHONE

Getting a SIM Card: Getting a sim card is probably the easiest way to have access to all the functions of a smartphone and to be able to make calls. To put a local sim card into your phone your phone needs to be unlocked by your home carrier. Putting a sim card into your smartphone will give you access to a Spanish number and data, so you will be able to use apps around the city and make phone calls to local numbers. You will not, however, be able to make phone calls to the US, so make sure you have apps, like WhatsApp, downloaded on your phone.

Local Carriers: 

Movistar - Central Location: CATALUNYA, PL 4 PTA 1 CC TRIANGLE, 08002, Barcelona 

Vodafone - Central Location: Centro Comercial El Corte Inglés, Plaça de Catalunya, 14, 08002 Barcelona 

Orange - Central location: Plaça de Catalunya, 14, 08002 Barcelona 

Yoigo - Central Location: Via Laietana, 44, 08003 Barcelona

International Plans: Many carriers will allow you to put international plans on your phones, which will give you data internationally and allow you to make foreign calls. This option can be quite expensive, but make sure you look into the different offers of your home phone carrier.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: If your smartphone is lost or stolen while in Barcelona it can be very difficult to replace. If you try to mail a new phone from outside of the EU to Barcelona it WILL get stuck in Spanish Customs, and you may never receive it. For this reason, we do NOT encourage you to have smartphones shipped to Barcelona, we recommend you to buy them locally.

Wifi: You will have wifi all around the city, but you should not rely on wifi as your only source of communication, as it can be unreliable and you may not be able to access it in the case of an emergency. Better to get internet included in your phone plan.