If you haven’t discovered this by now, you soon will: if you use your mobile phone (that’s a cell phone to Americans) while you’re on vacation, your phone company will charge you to the hilt.
The bureaucrats and politicians of the European Union have declared they want to do something about it, but you and I know whatever happens — if it happens — you will still end up paying a lot of money.
Depending in which phone companies you use — at home, and abroad — you not only end up paying more for the calls you make, but often also for the calls you receive.
And check this: Want to find out when your wife, sunbathing on the beach, is due back at the hotel?
You mobile to mobile call travels all the way back to your home country (an international call), and then back to your vacation spot (another international call).
Should your wife not pick up her phone, you’ll be directed to her voice mail (back home, and thus yet another international call). That’s one reason why you end up with astronomically high mobile phone bills.
Get a local mobile phone number
Fortunately, there’s a good alternative: get a local number. It’s easy to do, and it will save you lots of money that is better spent on tapas and drinks (or saved for a headstart on next year’s vacation).
By now most people have an old mobile phone laying around. Bring it with you. If you don’t have an an old phone, look for the most inexpensive pre-paid model you can get over here.
In Blanes, inexpensive phones with pre-paid service can be found at a number of shops. The one we use, and have found most helpful, is located in the old town shopping district.
Address & Contact Information
So Roma
Carrer de Bellaire, 39-41 [Google Map]
17300 Blanes
Tel: 972 354 777
Roundtrip Ferry from Blanes to Tossa de Mar