Tourist SIM Card in Spain (2026): Prepaid Plans, Prices & ID Rules

Visitors looking for a Spanish prepaid SIM can choose between tourist-specific products and standard prepaid plans. Orange sells dedicated Holiday packages, while Vodafone and Movistar publish large-data prepaid bundles that can also suit shorter stays.

The useful comparison goes beyond gigabytes. Registration, SIM charges, the first required top-up and whether you actually need a Spanish mobile number can matter more than the advertised allowance.

Spain tourist SIM cards at a glance

Local operator prices and terms checked on August 19, 2026. Offers, promotional allowances and purchase conditions can change, so confirm the final amount before paying. Roafly figures above are owner-verified standard prices for this guide.

Orange is the clearest choice when you specifically want a package built around a trip. Vodafone publishes a low starting price and a transparent SIM/top-up structure, although foreign-passport customers may face additional documentation requirements depending on the account and verification process. Movistar remains competitive on the bundle itself, while its main prepaid page does not state universal total for opening a new line.

Can tourists buy a prepaid SIM card in Spain?

Yes. Prepaid mobile service is available to visitors in Spain, but prepaid lines are not anonymous.

Spanish law requires operators selling prepaid mobile service to keep a record identifying the purchaser. The current consolidated text of Spain's prepaid registration rules requires operators to retain identifying details linked to the subscriber and SIM.

Bring a valid identity document when purchasing or registering a physical SIM. Exact document handling can vary by operator and sales channel, particularly when a foreign passport is used.

Phone compatibility matters too. Your handset should be unlocked before replacing your regular SIM with a Spanish physical SIM.

Local prepaid service usually makes more sense when you need:

• a Spanish mobile line during the trip;

• included voice minutes;

• a very large local data allowance;

• service lasting beyond a short holiday;

• a physical option because your phone does not support eSIM.

Data-only visitors face a different trade-off. Keeping the primary SIM installed and arranging mobile data before departure can outweigh the much larger allowances advertised by local prepaid operators.

Orange tourist SIM options in Spain

Orange separates its Holiday products from its regular prepaid range, which makes the visitor offer relatively easy to identify.

Holiday Maxi currently costs €35 including VAT and runs for 28 days. Orange publishes unlimited domestic data, 100 national and international minutes, plus a separate roaming data allowance for eligible European destinations.

Holiday Mini shortens the validity instead of simply functioning as a smaller monthly plan:

• Holiday Mini: €25 for 15 days, unlimited data and 100 national/international minutes.

• Holiday Maxi: €35 for 28 days, unlimited data and 100 national/international minutes.

• EU roaming: a limited roaming data allowance applies rather than the unlimited domestic allowance.

• Commitment: Orange states there is no minimum-term commitment.

Orange's prepaid help information says the Holiday package needs enough prepaid balance, or a top-up matching the tariff amount, when it is activated. That makes €25 or €35 the required tariff payment, depending on the Holiday version.

The physical prepaid SIM itself is published as free on Orange's prepaid information page. Orange therefore separates the €35 Holiday Maxi tariff from a €0 physical SIM charge.

A separate activation or service fee is not clearly published alongside the cited prepaid offer. Confirm the complete amount at the point of purchase rather than treating the €35 tariff plus free SIM as a guaranteed all-in checkout total for every sales channel.

Orange also validates identity information for prepaid customers, and its prepaid support material lists passport among the documents that can be used in its identity-validation process.

Best fit: visitors who prefer a package explicitly designed around a holiday and want calling minutes alongside mobile data.

Vodafone prepaid SIMs: low price, but check passport requirements

Vodafone's regular prepaid range is not branded solely as a tourist product. Its published prepaid offers can still be attractive to visitors, but the document requirements deserve more attention than the headline price suggests.

The current Vodafone Prepago S plan is €10 for 28 days and includes 90GB, unlimited national calls and a published international-minute allowance. Prepago M raises the allowance to 270GB for €15 per 28 days.

Purchase costs are unusually clear on Vodafone's published physical-SIM route:

• the physical prepaid SIM is free;

• standard delivery is published as free;

• the bundle becomes usable after the first top-up;

• the first top-up should match the price of the selected package;

• enough remaining balance can trigger another 28-day renewal.

That makes Prepago S a €10 initial service payment through the published flow rather than a €10 tariff plus an assumed starter-card charge.

Foreign-passport eligibility is the important caveat. Vodafone's customer-registration guidance accepts passport as an identification type, but it also states that customers using a passport in certain post-May 27, 2024 registration situations may need an additional non-residence document issued by Spanish authorities.

That requirement should not be generalized to every Vodafone prepaid sale, yet it means passport-only tourists should not assume the flow will always be frictionless. Check the exact identification documents required for your chosen Vodafone purchase channel before relying on the €10 option.

Best fit: visitors who can satisfy Vodafone's document requirements and want a low published prepaid starting cost with a Spanish line.

Movistar prepaid SIM plans

Movistar takes a more conventional prepaid approach. Its main prepaid range is sold through Movistar stores rather than being presented as a dedicated tourist pass.

Current options on the official Movistar prepaid page include:

• Prepago Plus: 60GB for €10 per 28 days, unlimited national and EU calls, plus 200 international minutes.

• Prepago Premium: 240GB for €15 per 28 days, with unlimited national and EU calls plus 400 international minutes.

• Prepago Total: 300GB for €20 per 28 days, with unlimited national and EU calls plus 400 international minutes.

Movistar also publishes a separate roaming allowance for each prepaid package. The full domestic data figure should not be read as the amount available while roaming elsewhere in Europe.

The main product page says prepaid plans can be contracted directly at Movistar stores. It does not provide simple, universal new-customer total combining the selected tariff, SIM card and every possible activation route.

That distinction matters. €10 is the published price of Prepago Plus, but calling €10 the guaranteed complete amount every new tourist will pay would go beyond what the main offer page establishes.

Best fit: visitors who want a large allowance, included calls and prefer completing the prepaid purchase in a Movistar store.

What does a Spain tourist SIM really cost?

Headline prices become easier to compare each component is separated.

Orange Holiday Maxi

• Tariff: €35.

• Validity: 28 days.

• Physical prepaid SIM: €0 through Orange's published prepaid offer.

• Required balance/top-up: enough to cover the €35 Holiday Maxi tariff.

• Separate activation/service fee: not clearly published alongside the cited offer.

• Safe comparison figure: €35 tariff plus a free physical SIM, with the final checkout amount confirmed before purchase.

Vodafone Prepago S

• Tariff: €10.

• Validity: 28 days.

• Physical SIM through Vodafone's published route: €0.

• Delivery through that route: €0.

• First top-up: €10.

• Published starting payment for service: €10.

• Eligibility caveat: passport-only customers may need additional documentation in some Vodafone verification processes.

Movistar Prepago Plus

• Tariff: €10.

• Validity: 28 days.

• New-line SIM/activation total: not clearly stated as universal amount on the main prepaid offer page.

• Safe comparison figure: €10 tariff plus any new-line charge confirmed during purchase.

Retailers can use their own sales processes, so an operator's web price should not automatically be treated as the guaranteed price at every independent shop. Airport or convenience-store stock should also be checked locally rather than assumed from nationwide operator availability.

Prices checked August 19, 2026. Prepaid promotions, bonus data and purchase conditions can change.

Registration, activation and payment

Spain's identity-registration requirement is the part of a physical prepaid purchase that visitors should plan for rather than discover at the counter.

The purchase process is usually easiest when you:

1. Choose the operator and package based on validity, calls and required data.

2. Take the identification document you intend to register against the line.

3. Ask for the complete amount before payment, including the SIM, package and any activation charge.

4. Confirm whether your document type is accepted through that specific purchase channel.

5. Complete the operator's identity-registration process.

6. Insert or activate the SIM and confirm that the selected package is active.

7. Check renewal rules if the line will remain funded beyond its first validity period.

Vodafone states that its prepaid packs renew every 28 days when sufficient balance remains. Movistar also uses a 28-day prepaid cycle for its main bundles. Orange Holiday Mini instead lasts 15 days, while Holiday Maxi lasts 28 days.

Payment support should be checked at the actual sales channel rather than assumed across every retailer. Vodafone publishes digital payment options for some processes, but that does not establish identical payment support at every physical SIM seller.

Where to buy a SIM card in Spain

Official operator channels offer the clearest route when registration or plan selection matters.

Orange: prepaid SIMs are available through Orange's own sales channels, including stores and ordering. The Holiday range is particularly easy to identify because the packages have dedicated product names.

Vodafone: Vodafone publishes an prepaid physical-SIM route with free delivery and also sells through its retail channels. Visitors using a foreign passport should verify the documentation required by the specific channel before treating ordering as the easiest option.

Movistar: the official prepaid page directs new customers to Movistar stores to contract prepaid packages.

Independent phone shops and other retailers may also sell prepaid products, but store inventory, SIM charges and activation assistance are not uniform enough to promise nationwide experience.

Arrival at an airport does not guarantee that the exact operator, package or official price listed above will be available. Checking an official operator store can provide a more predictable purchase process, but no blanket airport-versus-city savings claim should be made without comparing the actual sellers involved.

Readers still deciding between prepaid SIMs, eSIMs, roaming and Wi-Fi can compare the broader ways to get internet in Spain.

Local SIM or Roafly eSIM?

Local prepaid and travel eSIM products solve different problems, so comparing gigabytes gives a distorted answer.

Roafly's Spain packages shown above are valid for 30 days. Roafly lists Orange and Movistar as local networks for Spain, while the packages are data-only and support hotspot use across the purchased data allowance.

No claim is made here that the eSIM automatically switches between those listed networks, delivers guaranteed coverage or includes calls and SMS.

Roafly becomes attractive when the priority is reducing arrival-day tasks:

• setup can be completed before travel;

• the physical primary SIM can stay in the phone;

• no Spanish store visit is needed to buy the travel data package;

• local SIM stock and store opening hours do not affect the purchase;

• hotspot is supported across the purchased data allowance.

Local SIMs win different comparisons. Vodafone and Movistar currently advertise much larger domestic data allowances at low tariff prices, while Orange Holiday plans combine tourist-oriented validity with calling minutes.

Needing a Spanish number or ordinary included voice calls also points toward a local prepaid line rather than Roafly's data-only Spain packages.

Visitors who need mobile data can avoid the local SIM purchase process with Spain eSIM plans.

Readers whose real question is which travel-eSIM service to choose, rather than which Spanish prepaid SIM to buy, can use best eSIM options for Spain.

Which option fits your Spain trip?

Short trip with no need for a Spanish number: Roafly removes the local registration and store-purchase step while keeping your primary physical SIM in place.

Two-week trip with calls included: Orange Holiday Mini has a 15-day validity period designed around a shorter stay.

Three- to four-week holiday with a tourist package: Orange Holiday Maxi runs for 28 days and combines its domestic data offer with 100 national and international minutes.

Low published Vodafone starting price: Prepago S begins at €10 through Vodafone's published prepaid structure, but passport-only visitors should verify whether their purchase channel requires additional non-residence documentation before depending on that route.

Large local data allowance on a modest tariff: Vodafone Prepago M and Movistar Prepago Premium both publish much larger allowances than most visitors will need for maps, messaging and everyday browsing.

Spanish number and included calls are important: choose a local operator plan rather than a data-only Roafly package.

Phone lacks eSIM support: a physical prepaid SIM from Orange, Vodafone or Movistar remains the relevant route.

FAQ

Do I need ID to buy a prepaid SIM in Spain?

Yes. Spanish prepaid mobile lines are subject to purchaser identification requirements. The operator must record identity details linked to the prepaid SIM, so visitors should have a valid identification document ready.

Can I use a passport to register a Spain SIM card?

Passport handling depends on the operator and channel. Orange's prepaid identity-validation material explicitly includes passport, while Vodafone publishes passport-based verification with additional documentation requirements in certain situations.

Movistar's main prepaid product page does not publish a sufficiently detailed tourist document checklist to promise the same process everywhere. Confirm passport requirements with the chosen Movistar store before relying on that option.

Which Spanish SIM is cheapest?

Vodafone Prepago S and Movistar Prepago Plus both currently advertise €10 tariffs for 28 days. Vodafone provides the clearer published physical-SIM cost structure because it also states that the SIM and delivery are free and requires a first top-up matching the bundle.

That does not automatically make Vodafone the easiest €10 tourist purchase. Passport-only customers may need extra documentation in some Vodafone registration processes, while Movistar's main prepaid page does not publish guaranteed complete new-line total.

Does a Spain prepaid SIM include EU roaming?

Several current Orange, Vodafone and Movistar prepaid plans include roaming allowances in specified European destinations. The roaming allowance can be much smaller than the domestic data figure, especially when the Spanish plan advertises a very large or unlimited local allowance.

Check the exact destinations and roaming quota attached to your selected plan before crossing a border.

Is Orange Holiday better than a normal prepaid SIM?

Orange Holiday is easier to understand as a visitor product because its Mini and Maxi versions use travel-friendly validity periods and include national and international minutes. Vodafone and Movistar can cost less at the tariff level and currently provide large domestic data allowances.

Trip duration, documentation requirements and the need for calls therefore matter more than the word “Holiday” on the package.

Final recommendation

Spain gives visitors several strong local prepaid choices. Orange Holiday Mini and Maxi are the most straightforward options when a dedicated visitor-oriented package is preferable, while Movistar offers competitive 28-day bundles through its stores.

Vodafone Prepago S has a low published starting price and a transparent SIM/top-up structure, but that advantage holds as a practical tourist recommendation when your identification documents satisfy the requirements of the chosen Vodafone purchase channel. Passport-only visitors should verify any additional non-residence-document requirement before relying on the route.

Roafly fits a different priority: mobile data arranged before departure, no physical SIM swap and no need to visit a Spanish seller. Local prepaid remains the stronger choice when a Spanish number, included calls or a very large local allowance is central to the trip.

Roafly publishes this guide and offers the travel-eSIM alternative discussed above.