I own a Samsung phone that used to travel with internationally including Spain. Phone bills were astronomicals and therefore cancelled my TMobile.

Could I take this phone someplace (Where?) in Madrid and have it turn on while I am there?

Or any recommendation on phone rentals?

Thanks

Elvira

You should be able to take it there and get prepaid service. If it worked there before, it shouldn't be an issue.

You might need to get a new chip for the phone. You can get chips that are for each "country" (e.g. Spain and Portugal chip) or a chip that is for most of Europe. The per country chip should be about 25 euros. From the plans I explored (which was not extensive), the Spanish calling plans are more expensive than the ones in the U.S. (different rate structure), but cheaper than using your U.S. phone plan in Europe.