There are many ways in which to save money on phone calls from both landlines and from mobiles in Spain. I’ve been living in Barcelona for several years now and have discovered some very worthwhile money-saving phone services which offer cheap phone calls from Spain. So how do you save money on your phone bills? Please don’t just pick up your landline phone or your mobile and dial without reading further.
Cheap international phone calls from Spain
Many people don’t bother with a landline these days, but you do get slightly cheaper rates using the companies listed below when calling from a landline compared to a mobile phone. However, the call rates from mobiles are so cheap it’s not worth getting a landline if you don’t already have one.
Whilst calling local and national numbers is reasonably priced with companies like Movistar, it can be expensive to call internationally on a regular basis. Now, with the new European roaming rules in place, saving money on international calls applies when phoning countries outside of the EU.
Many mobile contracts include a certain amount minutes. These free minutes don’t cover international calls though, so subsequently there is still a need to watch the price of dialling internationally.
Here are some recommendations of phone services that give you cheap international calls from your landline and mobile.
1. Rebtel
Rebtel is a calling service which lets you access cheap international call rates when calling from your mobile phone or from a landline by over-riding your mobile service provider. There is no need to change your service provider or your existing number.
You need to register online and create a Rebtel account at their website. Add some credit. Then register your phone numbers – the phones that you will be calling from. Download the app to your smart phone to make using the service even easier.
Get as many friends and family to register too, because all phone calls to other Rebtel users are free. If you don’t have a smartphone it’s still simple to use the Rebtel service. Via your account online you can add you main phone contacts and Rebtel will generate a local number for each contact.
2. MyTello
mytello is another over-ride calling service with an app that let’s you easily make much cheaper international calls from your mobile. You can also use the mytello service from a landline. There are no contracts, basic fees or hidden costs. This service beats a lot of the prices from the other cheap calling services to several countries. I personally haven’t used this service, but the prices offered make it worthwhile mentioning here.
3. Localphone
Localphone.com give you a replacement local number for any phone number worldwide. You can store this number like any other number in your phone, as it will always be valid for the original number you allocated it to.
Register your phone numbers (the numbers that you will be calling from), add the regular numbers you call to your Localphone contacts and local numbers will be generated for them. Add credit and save money on your calls.
Localphone have apps for Android phones and for the iPhone. This makes it much easier to dial because you can access your Localphone contacts easily, import contacts from your phone contact list, or dial directly via the Localphone dial pad. The app includes wi-fi calling too.
Localphone used to be my preferred service, but I’ve recently switched to Rebtel as their rates are now cheaper to the countries I dial. However, Localphone still offer significant savings on international calls, and the country that you dial most regularly should decide which of these two services you use. Both services give their rates online.
4. Lebara
Lebara is a cheap pay-as-you-go mobile phone service. They give a flat rate for national calls and cheap mobile international calls. You need to purchase the Lebara starter pack which comes with a Lebara SIM card (if you want to keep your existing mobile phone number you can). Calls to other Lebara members are free of charge and there are no monthly fees or contracts to sign.
In 2009 Lebara won The Mobile News Awards for the UK’s Most Innovative Service Award. This is the same service they offer in Spain. They have calls to selected countries from 1c per minute.