Phone calls

International calls from Spain

International calls are expensive in Spain. If you use a normal Telefónica line to make international calls, spending a couple hundred of euros a month is easy. Even alternate providers often charge heavily for international calls, so it is worth investigating the different plans on offer.

The cheapest solution for saving money is to use a International Prepaid Calling Card. Besides extremely low rates, these cards offer you the following advantages:

• You can use them from any phone, such as a fixed line at home, a public payphone or a mobile (cellular phone).
• You don’t need a contract, you just pay for the card.
• Calling cards can be bought in small denominations (€5 and up) so you can control your spending.

International calling cards can save you between 70 and 90% compared to standard Telefónica rates, for example:

A one-hour call to London costs:

€8,62 at Telefonica’s standard rate
€2,12 using a Eurocity card…a saving of 75%!
A onehour call to Mexico City costs:

€31,74 at Telefonica’s standard rate
€3,72 using a Supercall card ... a saving of 88%!

There are a couple of differences depending on the type of card you use, but generally all prepaid calling cards work the same way:

1. You buy a prepaid calling card. This card gives you a credit which you use for calls as you make them.
2. You dial an access number provided with the card. This can either be a local access number or a toll-free number.
3. You enter the PIN number provided with your card.
4. After entering your PIN number, dial your destination number like you would normally.

Once connected to your destination number, the fees for your call are automatically subtracted from the credit on your card. Since the card provider pays for the international connection, you only pay for the local connection on top (or nothing if you’ve called a local access number). Compared to a normal international calling rate, the combination of local access fees and the card fees normally saves you between 70 and 90%.

Working out which Prepaid Calling Card to buy can be confusing. There are over 70 different cards on the market in Spain, and the tariffs and conditions are complicated.

Unfortunately, most retail sellers of cards generally don’t understand these differences very well and will sell you whatever they have in stock (which may occasionally include cards from unreliable providers). If you don’t want to rely on these dealers, you can find extensive information on calling cards, rates, maintenance charges and expiration dates at the homepage of our partner. For a quick overview click here

You can buy international calling cards at locutorios (calling centres), kiosks and other stores that deal with foreigners. However, most resellers have very limited understanding of the differences between cards and will sell whatever they have in stock. Some resellers might sell cards that are not very good value, as this makes them more money.

You can also buy international calling cards online. Through our partnership with Just Landed we offer you the possibility to buy your cards securely and immediately online. After paying your phone card with a credit card, you receive your PIN number and dialing instructions immediately by e-mail.

Buying your cards online at Just Landed offers you the following advantages:

• Just Landed has agreed to give people coming from our page 100 bonus points if you click from this page and then sign up as a member (you have to do this by clicking on a link from this website!)
• You collect bonus points with every purchase to get free products.
  
• Just Landed provides all of the information about the cards, so you can easily find out how many minutes calling home you get for your money.
• You can buy your card 24 hours the day, 7 days the week.