WI-FI

I heard of really fast WIFI in Barcelona, but most of the parts of Spain where I’ve been as a digital nomad – Andalusia and the Canary Islands – didn’t really have the best WIFI. Don’t get me wrong: it was ok! Download speed between 10 and 20 MBit and upload speed between 1 and 10 is what you normally have to deal with. In Tarifa WIFI was sometimes on and off because of the strong wind.

Mobile Internet

Sim-cards cost around 10 Euro. You can get a data package for around another 10 Euro per GB. When I was in Tarifa I simply left my German SIM-card in my phone, since the price for data was exactly the same. But like this people could call me on my normal phone number and I could get text messages (which is necessary for some double authentification systems). The best known carriers are YOIGO, Orange and Vodafone. But Movistar and happy are used a lot as well. If you need stable wifi you should opt for using your SIM-card.

MiFi

Living in Spain as a Digital Nomad

In the last years I always had Airbnb-Apartments and sometimes for short stays I went to Hostels or Hotels. Prices vary depending on the region. Islands are more expensive in general when it comes to housing. In the Andalusian inland I once found a 4*-Hotel for 20 Euro per person. So you can find everything and just have to search for what you want. Spain is famous for tapas. That’s small portions of different dishes. It can be a slice of Tortilla, grilled shrimps (Spanish: Gambas) or grilled pepper (Pimientos de Padrón). It’s not a lot to eat, so normally you need to order at least to tapas to get full. That’s why the classical situation in a tapas bar is people ordering many tapas and sharing all of them. Prices vary from 4 to 15 Euro per tapa. If you want to cook yourself there are many supermakets to choose from: Mercadona, Dia or Carrefour are spread over the entire country. Lidl has become a known supermarket as well. Rental cars are super cheap but only if you get them without insurance. No worries: I don’t want you to drive without insurance. But there are credit cards (Mastercard Golds for example) that include fully comprehensive cover for rental cars if you pay with the credit card. This way I paid for a whole month only 150 Euro for my rental car. Otherwise it would have been double or even three times the price. 

Coworking Spaces

In Spain and most of all in the nomad hotspots there are coworking spaces. I know two in which I’ve been working:

1. La Cocotera: A Coworking Hostel with a nice roof top terrace in the heart of Tarifa’s Old Town. Daily fee: 10 Euro or 5 Euro, if you are staying there as well.
2. Lanzarote Coworking: A classical coworking Space at the beach of Arrecife/Lanzarote. Weekly fee: 39 Euro.

Blog Posts About Spain

I started traveling Spain before becoming a digital nomad. I do not consider those places though because it’s almost 10 years ago. In the last two years, I’ve been several times on the Balearic Islands, in Andalusia and on the Canary Islands.