Connectivity — Spain
What travelers need to know about connectivity in Spain. What is legal at home can be a serious crime here — each rule links to its official source.
Connectivity in Spain: prohibited — what is legal at home can be a serious crime here.
Buying a prepaid SIM in Spain is not anonymous - by law the seller must record your name, nationality and ID document number before handing it over, so bring your passport. The duty sits on the mobile operator, so expect to be refused the sale if you have no document.
No fine falls on you as the buyer - the sanctions land on the mobile operator. Failing to keep the register at all is an "infraccion muy grave"; keeping it repeatedly or systematically incomplete is "grave"; keeping it incomplete is "leve" (DA unica.5). The practical consequence for a traveler is refusal of sale, and cards that could not be registered must be cancelled or deactivated (DA unica.8). No euro figure is stated: DA unica.6 still routes the sanctioning regime to Ley 32/2003, which is itself repealed, so the current ceiling is not readable off this page and is not asserted here.
§ Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado - Ley 25/2007, de 18 de octubre, de conservación de datos relativos a las comunicaciones electrónicas y a las redes públicas de comunicaciones; TEXTO CONSOLIDADO, "Última actualización publicada el 10/05/2014"; BOE núm. 251 de 19/10/2007; ELI https://www.boe.es/eli/es/l/2007/10/18/25/conLeave signal jammers at home. Spain bans even POSSESSING any device built to jam phone, Wi-Fi, GPS or other telecom signals — importing it, carrying it, installing it or using it is a "very serious" infringement carrying a fine of up to EUR 20 million and seizure of the equipment. The only exemptions are institutional (public security, national defence, national security, air and maritime navigation safety, prisons). There is no personal-use exemption.
Classified a very serious infringement (art. 106.9). Fine of up to EUR 20,000,000 (art. 109.1.a). Sealing or seizure of the equipment is available as an ACCESSORY sanction (art. 109.2.c) rather than automatically, and equipment may be withdrawn from the market (art. 109.3). The law states no minimum fine and no figure specific to individuals.
§ Agencia Estatal Boletin Oficial del Estado — Legislacion consolidada: Ley 11/2022, de 28 de junio, General de Telecomunicaciones (BOE-A-2022-10757; «BOE» num. 155, de 29/06/2022; entrada en vigor 30/06/2022; incluye la correccion de errores del «BOE» num. 224, de 17/09/2022, BOE-A-2022-15168), arts. 82.4, 106.9, 109.1.a) y 109.2.c). Ultima actualizacion publicada el 27/12/2025. Corroborated by Ministerio para la Transformacion Digital y de la Funcion Publica, "Inhibidores de Frecuencia" (digital.gob.es, undated official warning notice).