I will be cell phone shopping as soon as I arrive Wednesday. I know you can buy a phone and then buy phone cardes worth minutes. Can someone tell some of the best places to go for the best prices on a simple cell phone? I know the dude at multimadrid has a deal, but he wants 150$ for it and a Spaniard told me that's way too much. Gracias

You may buy a package with a cell phone almost everywhere.

The bigger the store, the more variety you will have and the more trade marks you may choose from.

If you want good bargains there is a chain called The Phone House. If you want variety (though it may be more expensive) go to El Corte Inglés.

As I have told, you may buy these packages in gas stations, supermarkets, VIPS stores, etc...

Fernando

Hi Rocinante!

Check out the " cell phone " thread I found in this forum by using the SEARCH link in the upper righthand corner. Antonio has some good advice (with links) therein.

Saludos, MadridMan

You can buy a pre-paid cell phone from $80 more or less (a cheap one). They come with an initial charge of $20 aprox. However, you could find special offers. I'll look for them in FNAC (plaza Callao), Alcampo, Carrefour and big department stores. In Spain, there are 3 companies: Vodafone (ex-Airtel), Movistar and Amena. Amena is the cheapest one but it gives you less services than the other two. Movistar is the mobile branch of Telefónica (it has more coverage and it's the most popular, followed close by Vodafone). I have a Vodafone, it works well but the customer service is awful (even by Spanish standards!)