Madrid eSIM
In Madrid you connect to Movistar or Orange, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The median across the country is 79 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- Movistar and Orange
- Real speed in Spain
- 79 Mbps median, 23 Mbps for the slowest tenth2,940 travellers across Spain, rolling 90 days
- 5G
- yes, non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Madrid
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $5.89 | $5.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $2.63 | $7.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $1.98 | $9.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $1.49 | $14.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $1.19 | $23.89 | |
| 50 GB | Never expires | $0.94 | $46.89 |
How Spain compares across Europe
- Speed rank
- 17 of 46 destinations we sell in Europe
- Regional median
- 71 Mbps
- Consistency
- The slowest tenth still reaches 29 percent of the median
- Upstream networks
- 2, Movistar, Orange
- 5G
- Yes, non standalone
- Next fastest nearby
- Iceland, 81 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- Belgium, 77 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 4: Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Valencia
- tenth percentile
- 23 Mbps
- Behind these figures
- 2940 travellers, rolling 90 days
Landing at Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD)
- Airport
- MAD / LEMD
- Distance
- 13 km from the centre of Madrid
- Wifi on arrival
- Free wifi in the terminalNetwork is Airport Free Wifi Aena. Connect as a guest with only an email address, or with an Aena Club account. You get 15 minutes free while you confirm the verification email, after which access is unrestricted. No local phone number is required.
Getting into Madrid
- Madrid Metro Line 8 (Aeropuerto T1-T2-T3 and Aeropuerto T4) (MAD). Runs through tunnels, where a signal drops
- Cercanias line C-1 (MAD), about 15 minutes
- Expres Aeropuerto bus line 203 (MAD), about 40 minutes
Underground and on the metro
Madrid Metro runs 13 lines. It opened in 1919. The operator does not publish whether the tunnels carry a mobile signal, so we do not claim either way.
Worth knowing about Madrid
- Madrid-Barajas has five passenger terminals (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T4S) served by two separate metro stations on Line 8, so you need to know your terminal before choosing a stop.
- An airport supplement applies on top of the normal metro fare for the Barajas stations.
- The airport is about 13 km northeast of the historic centre and roughly 9 km from the financial district, so the metro ride in is short by hub-airport standards.
- The city council free wifi network is called Madrid. To connect you must enter a mobile phone number and then type an access code that is sent to it by SMS.
- Municipal free wifi is provided in libraries, cultural centres, study rooms, senior centres, social services offices and citizen service offices, listed in the city open data portal with their SSID and launch date.
- Since 1 June 2026 passengers can pay directly at Metro de Madrid turnstiles with a contactless credit or debit card, or the same card held in a phone or smartwatch, at 1,249 turnstiles across the network.
- In its first phase the Metro bank card system covers single tickets only. At stations with older gatelines at least two turnstiles accept bank cards and one of those also reads QR codes.
- The Metro airport supplement costs 3 euros. It is valid for a single use and expires at the end of service on the day it is bought.
- The Expres Aeropuerto bus charges a flat 5 euro fare and does not require the Metro airport supplement, so it is a separate fare product from the rest of the network.
- On the Expres Aeropuerto bus the fare can be paid to the driver in cash, with a bank debit or credit card, or with a card virtualised in a mobile device, with no surcharge.
- Barajas runs a free transit bus between terminals 24 hours a day, every 5 minutes from 06:00 to 22:00 and every 20 minutes from 22:00 to 06:00. A separate automated people mover links T4 and T4S in about 5 minutes.
- Mobile coverage inside the Madrid metro is run by Metrocall, a neutral host operator owned 60 percent by Cellnex and 40 percent by Metro de Madrid, sharing one platform among the main mobile carriers.
- CRTM station pages carry an explicit service icon reading estacion con cobertura movil, so mobile coverage is published station by station rather than assumed for the whole network.
- Spanish law 25/2007 obliges operators to record the name, surname, nationality and identity document number of anyone activating a prepaid mobile line, so a passport is needed to buy a prepaid SIM.
- EMT city buses carry free wifi for passengers, and free wifi has also been installed at ten bus shelters so the connection continues between the shelter and the bus.
- CRTM lists Metro line 8, EMT bus lines 101, 200 and 203, night lines N27 and N32, and interurban lines 822 and 824 as the public transport serving Terminals T1, T2 and T3.