What is the best way to make a call in Spain? Will an Orange Card work with a US Cellphone? What is the procedure? What is the best plan for limited use? I have read many of the internet sites, but am more confused!! Thanks

When I was in Spain this summer, I brought my own US cell phone. I really only had it for emergencies and so I could send text messages. I went to my wireless provider (AT&T) and asked them to adjust my plan so that I could use my phone over there for both voice and text, and that was it. I got rid of the international calling plan when I got home since I didn't need it any more.

Another option is to get a cell phone once you arrive in Spain. I know of students who have been in Spain for a semester or a summer, etc. who do this. You can get a phone where you pre-pay for a certain number of minutes. It's a local number so you are paying local prices. I've never done this, so I can't give you a lot of information about it, but I know it's pretty common.

Silver Traveler ... I never could get my US cell phones to work in Spain - I too found all the info out there very complicated - apparently it is possible but I never managed to get it to work.

I used to rent a cell phone for my trips to Spain .. there are many US companies out there on the internet that can rent you a cell for short trips - and its pretty economical - less than 100 dollars usually for two week trips or less... Since I began spending more and more time in Spain over the last few years I now have a Vodaphone cell - I pay I think 8 euros a month minimum and only pay for calls when I use it - If you are taking a one time trip you can also buy a prepay or pay as you go phone once you arrive and it is about the same price as a one time rental through a US company ..

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the information...It is great to have real people who have found real solutions to the same problem!

To answer your questions regardnig the Orange cards --- No, you can't use them from a US phone. Orange calling cards must be dialed from an Orange cell phone. I have one. Last year I bought an international calling card. The reason it has to be from an Orange phone is that you don't dial a "real" phone number (like an 800#) to access the system, you dial an Orange system number (273 ??) to get it started.

I posted a previous question earlier and no one answered it. I know there also is Orange in France. Does anyone know if I can buy an Orange card in France to use on my Spain phone? (going there in February). If not, I'm just going to call someone in the family (SIL?) and have her buy an Orange card in Spain and call me with the number.

I would check with your cell phone carrier in the US.

When I was in Madrid in June of 2007 I was able to use my T-Mobile cell phone just like I do here in Minnesota. I was there for almost 2 weeks and my bill was less than $10 more than usual.

T-Mobile and ATT should work in Spain and most of Europe as they use the GSM protocol. The phone may need some adjustments as to want band it listens on. Also I would recommend having the sim chip in your phone ¨¨unlocked¨¨ and then when in spain you can buy a sim chip and a spainish number with some phone time on it. If you run low on minutes you can go to a store and get a ¨¨refill¨¨ for you minutes, I seem to recall they called these cards ¨¨vitiminas¨¨ for some odd reason.

The other providers, verizon, sprint etc will not work.

Hope this helps.