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Suppose that you have just arrived in Madrid, Barcelona, or perhaps the coast of Alicante from your country. You’ll find that you need data in order to use the internet on your mobile device to find the best places to enjoy in Spain such as the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, but maybe you don’t know enough Spanish to communicate with people in a physical store to get a physical SIM card. This is where an eSIM comes in.
What is an eSIM?
eSIM stands for embedded SIM, meaning that eSIM allows you to have cellular connectivity without the need for a physical SIM card. You can buy and set up your eSIM from anywhere, anytime. This means that you can buy a local data plan for your trip to Spain in advance to avoid roaming costs or the hassle of finding and setting up a local SIM card, so you can enjoy all of what Spain has to offer in peace.
All you need to do to set up your eSIM is connect to a Wi-Fi network on the day of the activation and scan the QR code which will be sent to your email address.
Note: You can only scan this QR code once. If you delete your eSIM, you will not be able to restore it.
Orange eSIM Spain Prepaid
Orange Spain eSIM Holidays comes prepaid, meaning that you have no contract, no subscription, no commitment. All of this means that you can travel to Spain without the need to worry about your connectivity or any unexpected roaming charges.
If you travel to Spain from outside of Europe with a physical SIM card, you will find that roaming can be very limited in terms of how much data you get, and that it is very expensive. If you travel from within Europe, while the connectivity and price is better, it is still not ideal. With an eSIM, you buy it, set it up, then forget about it while you travel.
Orange eSIM Holidays Spain offers unlimited data over 15 days with the first 60GB at 4G/LTE speed, and the remainder at 2 Mbps. This means that you can stay connected during your travel no matter how data intensive your tasks may be.
Additionally, you get 30GB of data at 4G/LTE speed to use over 15 days anywhere in the European Union, Norway and Liechtenstein, meaning that you don’t have to worry about changing SIM cards or roaming if you decide to leave Spain to explore the rest of Europe.
Best prepaid eSIMs for Spain
Below is a table ranking the top 5 eSIMs to buy to travel to Spain in descending order:
| Brand | Data Quantity | Duration | Price | Price per 1GB |
| 🏆 Orange eSIM Holidays Spain | Unlimited60GB 4G/LTE2Mbs Afterwards | 15 Days | 25€ | 0,42€ |
| eSIM MEO | 15GB | 15 Days | 25€ | 1,7€ |
| Airalo “Guay Mobile” | 10GB | 30 Days | 21.49€ | 2.1€ |
| Mobimatter O2 EU | 10GB | 30 Days | 11.94€ | 1.19€ |
| WHIZ eSIM Spain | 50GB | 30 Days | 75,54€ | 1,51€ |
*All data compiled on 2024
As you can see, Orange eSIM Holidays charges one quarter of the price per 1GB of brands such as Airalo. While Orange eSIM Holidays eSIMs may only be active for 15 days (with Airalo’s and others lasting 30), they are the only ones with unlimited data. Consequently, if you are travelling for more than 15 days, you can just buy two eSIMs and activate the second one once the first finishes. Moreover, eSIM Holidays provides 100 minutes of voice calls from a Spanish number, as well as SMS for additional credit.
eSIM MEO is also a very good option for those who consume a lot of data, but do not want to do an Identity check (required for eSIM Holidays) or pay an exorbitant price, even though the price per GB is higher. Now you don’t have to worry about how much data you are consuming each day of your stay in Spain (or anywhere else in Europe), while still paying approximately the same price that other brands are charging for a fraction of the data you get.
Spain eSIM for iPhone
eSIMs were first introduced for the iPhone in 2018 with the XS and XR models, and has been supported in every iPhone model since. The first iPad devices to introduce eSIM are the iPad Pro 11” (2nd Generation) and the iPad Pro 12.9” (3rd Generation). eSIM has also been implemented in every iPad released since. It is only supported on the cellular iPad Models, meaning that even though eSIM does not require a physical SIM Card or SIM card slot, it still requires a device that is capable of cellular connectivity.
How to activate eSIM on Apple devices
- Open the Settings app
- Connect to a stable Wi-Fi network
- Tap “Mobile Data”
- Tap “Add Data Plan”
- Scan the QR code that has been sent to your email inbox
- Tap “Add Data Plan”
- When prompted, enter the PIN code sent to your email inbox
- Enjoy your holidays in Spain!
Spain eSIM for Android
Because of how wide the Android market is, eSIM has not been adopted as uniformly as with Apple’s devices. The largest company to adopt eSIM in their phones is Samsung, who has incorporated them into their flagship Galaxy S and Galaxy Z series starting from the Galaxy S20 onwards. Google has been incorporating eSIMs into their devices from the Pixel 3 Model onwards, but remains a minority among android users.
How to activate eSIM on Samsung Devices
- Open the settings app
- Connect to a stable Wi-Fi Network
- Tap “Connections”
- Tap “SIM Card Manager”
- Tap “Add mobile plan”
- Tap “Add using QR Code”
- Scan the QR code that has been sent to your email inbox
- When prompted, enter the PIN code sent to your email inbox
- Enjoy your holidays in Spain!
eSIM Holidays compatible devices
You can set up your eSIM data plan on your iPhone, as well as a range of other mobile devices. Here is a list of all of the mobile devices supported:
- Apple (iOS)
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 Mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- IPhone 13 Mini
- IPhone 13 Pro
- IPhone 13 Pro Max*
- Iphone 14*
- iPhone 14 Pro*
- IPhone 14 Pro Max*
- iPhone SE (2020)*
- iPhone SE (2022)*
- iPhone XR*
- iPhone XS*
- iPhone XS Max*
- iPad 7 Generation (2019)
- iPad 8 Generation (2020)
- iPad 9 Generation (2021)
- iPad AIR 3 Generation (2019)
- iPad AIR 4 Generation (2020)
- iPad AIR 5 Generation (2022)
- iPad MINI 5
- iPad Mini 6 Generation (2021)
- iPad Pro 11
- iPad Pro 11 2 Generation
- iPad Pro 11 3 Generation
- iPad Pro 12.9 3 Generation
- iPad Pro 12.9 4 Generation
- iPad Pro 12.9 5 Generation
- Android
- Samsung
- Samsung Galaxy Watch5 4G (40mm) (SM-R905F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Watch5 4G (44mm) (SM-R915F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Fold (SM-F900F)
- Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G (SM-N981B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G (SM-N986B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy S20 5G (SM-G981B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (SM-G988B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G (SM-G986B)
- Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (SM-G991B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (SM-G998B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G (SM-G996B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy S22 5G (SM-S901B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G (SM-S908B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy S22+ 5G (SM-S906B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 42mm (SM-R815F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 46mm (SM-R805F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 40mm (SM-R835F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 44mm (SM-R825F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Watch3 41 mm (SM-R855F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Watch3 45 mm (SM-R845F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Watch4 40mm (SM-R865F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Watch4 44mm (SM-R875F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic 42mm (SM-R885F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic 46mm (SM-R895F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro 4G (45mm) (SM-R925F)*
- Samsung Galaxy Z Flip (SM-F700F)
- Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G (SM-F707B)
- Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G (SM-F711B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G (SM-F721B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G (SM-F926B/DS)
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 5G (SM-F936B/DS)
- Samsung Gear S2 3G eSIM (SM-735)
- Google
- Pixel 3
- Pixel 3 XL
- Huawei
- HUAWEI Watch 3 (GLL-AL04)
- HUAWEI Mate 40 Pro (NOH-N29)
- HUAWEI P40 Pro 5G (ELS-N29)
- HUAWEI P40 5G (ANA-N29)
- HUAWEI Watch 2 eSIM (DLXXE)
- Oppo
- Oppo Find X5 (CPH2307)
- Oppo Find X5 Pro (CPH2305)
- Oppo Reno 6 Pro (CPH2247)
- Oppo Find X3 Pro (CPH2173)
- Oppo Watch 46mm (OW19W12)*
- Others
- FOSSIL Generation 5 Smartwatch (NA99714)*
- XIAOMI 12T Pro (22081212UG)*
- MONTBLANC Summit 2+ (S2C19)
- Samsung
*Devices compatible with Orange eSIM Holidays
Please note that not all devices are eSIM compatible, so before you buy one, check our list of compatible phones or ask your eSIM provider.
Spain eSIM service providers
Orange is currently the only Spanish eSIM service provider which provides prepaid eSIMs geared towards travellers. This means that unlike other eSIM plans, you will not be roaming. Service providers like Vodafone do have eSIMs, but they are not made with people looking to travel to Spain from outside of Europe in mind. Firstly, Vodafone’s eSIMs require you to be on a contract, similar to your regular SIM card. Furthermore, in order to activate a Vodafone eSIM, you would have to go to a physical Vodafone store or distributor. With Orange, you are using a well-known and trusted local carrier that allows you to get local support, while still being able to enjoy the benefits of a prepaid eSIM.
Buy eSIM holidays now for unlimited data and 60 GB of 5G/LTE Speed.
FAQ about eSIM in Spain
Is eSIM available in Spain?
Yes, eSIM is available in Spain. In fact, if you’re coming from abroad and don’t know enough Spanish to walk into a store and buy a physical SIM card, or just want to avoid roaming charges or a long-term SIM contract, eSIM is the preferred alternative.
Who offers eSIM in Spain?
There are several providers who offer eSIM in Spain, both from local and global carriers. However, the only Spanish carrier to offer a prepaid plan is Orange.
Does Orange Spain have eSIM?
Yes! Orange eSIM Holidays is actually the best eSIM you can buy in Spain, considering that it has Unlimited data with the first 60GB at 4G/LTE speed, and the rest at 2mbps.
How do I register eSIM on my iPhone?
All you need to do is scan the QR code that will be sent to your email and insert the PIN code. See above for more information on how to do that.
Can you use eSIM with different providers?
You can store multiple eSIMs on your phone from different providers, but you can only have one active at a time on most mobile devices.