Ok, I am leaving for Spain (La Herradura in Costa del Sol) in 5 days. I will be there for 8 weeks. I have been told I can by a cell phone cheap in Madrid and use a prepaid SIM card. Questions:
1. Are the phones relatively cheap?
2. How does the SIM card work?
3. Iis it true I can get free incoming calls on the phone (e.g. if someone wanted to call me from the USA they pay their charge while I pay nothing?)
4. How do I find out if the phone will work in La Herradura (80 km east of Malaga)?

Thanks for any input.

Let me guess that you are flying into Malaga. having just got back from the area I can tell you that "mobile" phones work almost everywhere along the Costa... you will see the ubiquitious towers as you drive down the autovia.... the service used by most business people in the are was from "Hollywood Star"( I didn't make that up) for about $50us you get a phone and 500 minutes(watch and ask about ventas/sales) on the pay as you go program... when your time runs out you simply stop in the local branch or go to one of the hundreds of sites that will take your money/credit card and recharge your minutes...

So are you saying that I can buy a phone for US$50 including 500 local minutes (ie incoming calls free, 500 minutes of outgoing local calls (e.g. local call that connects to a USA long distance service)?
will it work with a wireless modem too? Is that worth it (I don't have a wireless modem currently in my laptop)?

WE DON'T PAY FOR INCOMING CALLS OR INCOMING SHORT TEXT MESSAGES IN SPAIN.

The only time when you are charged for incoming calls is if you go abroad and you want to use your phone using the roaming service. The caller will pay cell phone rates and you will pay the difference for an international call (since you are abroad).

Please, there are like at least 4 or 5 threads talking about the same. Please, do SEARCH before posting something. The truth is out there... in the board!!!.

Call rates are not as cheap as local calls made with landlines. They are much more expensive. International calls are also more expensive than normal "cell phone" calls.

Check out Movistar , Airtel and Amena to see which are the rates depending on whether you use the prepaid system or the contract.

[ 06-19-2001: Message edited by: Antonio ]