How to get internet in Barcelona

Practical information

In this article you´ll find information on getting connected to the internet in Spain. Besides this a list of Internet providers will be given as well as some useful tips

Why?

If you´re emigrating to Spain and going to rent or buy an apartment in Barcelona, you probably would stay in touch with friends and family in your country of origin. Depending on how frequent you´ll use Internet you could (if you rent in consult with the landlord) close a contract with an internet provider. If you aren´t a frequent Internet user it might be better to just head for an Internet café. Prices for using the Internet vary between 0.50 Euro to 1.50 Euro per hour. By counting the amount of hours you´re going to use the Internet you could easily calculate what will be best. Most of the time you could also choose from deals with Internet, telephone and television combined together. With these deals you have unlimited access the Internet and are able to make free calls to landlines in Spain. There are also mobile phone companies who offer internet for you mobile phone (for a fixed fee per month).

Most contracts with internet providers are contracts with lengths of at least 18 months, so if you´re in Spain just for study it won´t be an option for you. For people staying a short time in Spain there is the possibility of getting connected to the Internet by using the so called ´USB dongles´ or USB Internet Movíl. These are USB sticks with a SIM card in it so you have a wireless 3G Internet connection in all areas covered by the 3G network. Both Vodafone and Movistar offer contracts without a minimum amount of months. You could also choose to add a ´usb wifi-base´ to your deal to have a little wireless network yourself.

Vodafone and Movistar offer ´internet movíl´ in different deals. They all work with data limits which means you get for instance each month 5GB at full speed and if you exceed the 5G speed will fall down to 128kb. The speed isn’t quite what you´ll get with ADSL Internet, which means you’re looking at about 450Kb to 900Kb download and about half of that for upload. Compare that to 512Kb/256Kb for your cheapest ADSL line.

If you´re staying for more than 5 months and using the internet frequently an internet connection with a fixed line is advised. Jazztell offers different deals with ADSL internet with or without telephone and or television included. Prices are about 25 to 60 Euros a month depending on the preferred speed. Don´t forget the start up consts

Where to get internet

In Spain you´re free to choose with which company you would like to close a contract. As the ADSL market is ´privatized´ prices could differ sometimes reasonably due to temporary deals made by Internet providers. Always compare deals and prices of different providers before signing a contract.

In Spain the largest internet providers are

• Movistar www.movistar.es
• Vodafone www.vodafone.es
• Orange www.orange.es
• Yacom www.ya.com
• Jazztel www.jazztel.com
• Ono (cable internet) www.ono.es

You could visit the different stores of the providers or head for the Phonehouse as it has a wide range of Internet providers. For more information check www.phonehouse.es In Barcelona there providers like Vodafone and Movistar have many stores in the city.

To see which store is most close check :

• for Vodafone
• for Movistar

How?

To close a contract with the Phonehouse or one of the internet providers mentioned above you´ll need the following documents:

• A passport or a NIE-number (click here to see how to get a NIE)
• A Spanish bank account (click here to see how to get a Spanish bank account)
• (Sometimes) A deposit of about 30 Euro
• Some providers also offer the possibility of closing the contract online.

Costs

Depending on the deal you choose costs may vary. For the internet movil (USB dongle + wifi dock) with a limit of 5GB at full speed you´ll pay 39 Euro a month (not included the one time costs of the dock and USB dongle itself which were about 69 Euro).

If you´re planning to have a fixed telephone line with internet installed, they will charge you 150 Euros to install it and after this the monthly fee will be about 69 Euros for unlimited access fast access. Check the websites for the latest prices.

Useful Tips

If you have a computer with Internet you´re able to use Skype. With Skype you could call people all over the world without being charged (only for the costs of the internet connection). Signing up is free. For more information check: www.skype.com

When signing a contract make sure you check the conditions of the offer decently. Most providers advertise with fairly low prices for the first month or three months and after that a higher fee will be charged. Most prices on the advertisements are without VAT (IVA in Spain), so you´ll need to add that as well to the monthly price.