Airalo Eurolink eSIM in Spain Review (+Speedtests)

Spain is one of the most popular destinations in Europe.

With pleasant weather, incredible beaches & fantastic food, it has much to offer.

You can even ski if you go to Northern Spain ⛷️.

Moreover, the country is massive (4th largest on the European continent), so staying connected throughout is essential.

That is why I tried out eight travel eSIMs from various eSIM providers, such as Airalo's Eurolink (Europe) eSIM, to find out which one is the best.

I also tested the Big Four (Movistar Spain, Orange Spain, Vodafone Spain & Yoigo) in 2022, but it was too soon to retest them in 2023.

Either way, installing an eSIM is quick, easy & convenient, as you do not have to queue up upon landing (after a long flight) or deal with SIM card registration requirements (such as getting your passport details captured in Spain – mandated by law).

Is Airalo's Eurolink eSIM any good? Let's find out.

Original publication: 29^th of December 2022. Last updated: 29^th of February 2024.

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Table of Contents

Airalo's List of Compatible eSIM-Supported Phones

Before I even focus on Airalo's Eurolink (Europe) eSIM (in Spain), does your phone support Airalo eSIMs?

If you have an eSIM-compatible smartphone, it is almost guaranteed that you can use an Airalo eSIM.

While Airalo had to certify phones in the past, almost all are supported nowadays.

As of December 2023, the phones shown in the infographic below are compatible with Airalo eSIMs:

Now we can actually focus on the Eurolink eSIM (in Spain).

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Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM Prices

You can get the Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM for between 5 USD (1 GB for 7 days) and 185 USD (100 GB for 180 days).

Below is an overview of how much each Airalo Eurolink eSIM costs:

1. Europe/Eurolink 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 5 USD
2. Europe/Eurolink 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 13 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
3. Europe/Eurolink 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 20 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
4. Europe/Eurolink 10 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 37 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
5. Europe/Eurolink 50 GB eSIM for 90 days, costing 100 USD
6. Europe/Eurolink 100 GB eSIM for 180 days, costing 185 USD

Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in December based on data up to the 30^th of December (2023 data only).

In general, purchasing an Airalo Europe eSIM does not make sense if you plan to visit only one country (only Spain, for example).

Mostly because of price differences (Eurolink's 10 GB eSIM costs 37 USD, while Guay Mobile's (Spain – review) costs only 18 USD).

Regardless of the currency used in your country, Airalo will always charge you in USD (US Dollar).

What if you buy the 50 GB Eurolink eSIM, as I did, and realize you need another 10 GB of data close to exhausting your data allowance?

Would you need to purchase a new eSIM? Not at all.

You can top up your Airalo Eurolink eSIM for the same amount of data and prices as listed earlier.

The 10 GB top-up would still cost 37 USD as if you bought the 10 GB eSIM from the start.

And you can purchase as many top-ups as you wish/need.

That way, you will never run out of data.

A handful of Airalo eSIMs do not allow for top-ups. But that does not apply to the Eurolink eSIM – so worry not.

You can top-up on the Airalo website or its apps.

And if you buy a top-up before you have fully exhausted your data allowance, Airalo will not use your top-up yet.

As a result, the validity of the top-up will not start until you start using the top-up data (which is not the case with all travel eSIMs).

>>> Get your Airalo Eurolink eSIM now! <<<

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Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM Country List

The Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM can be used in 39 countries in Europe, including Spain.

Below is a complete overview of countries where the Airalo Eurolink eSIM works:

Note: 5G NR may only be available on select supported networks and not all. Check out this guide to determine which network you must manually select to experience 5G NR speeds.

With the Airalo Eurolink eSIM, you can save a lot of money by skipping the initial SIM card costs per country you visit.

So if you plan on visiting two or more countries in Europe, getting the Airalo Euroink eSIM will be convenient AND will save you a lot of money.

>>> Get your Airalo Eurolink eSIM now! <<<

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My Airalo Eurolink eSIM in Spain Experience

I used my Airalo Eurolink (Eurolink) eSIM only in Málaga during this trip.

But I also used the eSIM in 2022 in Barcelona and Madrid.

Travel eSIMs, including the Europe eSIM, roam on the networks of local mobile operators.

The 2022 Eurolink eSIM was powered by FL1 Telecom/Telecom Liechtenstein (the same provider powering the old Airalo Discover Global eSIM).

While it worked alright in Europe, eSIMs powered by FL1 Telecom were awful outside of Europe.

So, I was glad Airalo finally found a new partner somewhere in late 2022 or early 2023 (for your benefit).

As a result, I will not go over the 2022 results because they are not relevant anymore.

Anyway, travel eSIMs, including the Europe eSIM, roam on the networks of local mobile operators.

Airalo is not a mobile (network) operator (MNO), so it partners with various MNOs, which roam on local MNOs' networks.

Okay, that may sound a bit confusing – all you need to know is that you will be treated as a guest on one of the Spanish mobile networks while using another network to make this system work.

Airalo's Europe eSIM uses the Movistar Spain (review), Orange Spain (with 5G NR access – review), Vodafone Spain (review) & Yoigo (review) networks while being powered by Webbing/Orange France (so your phone, some apps, or sites you visit may claim you are on Webbing instead of Airalo – that is correct).

In my case, the eSIM used Vodafone by default, but you can change it to Movistar, Orange (with 5G NR access), or Yoigo in your phone's settings.

If you wonder why I did not use Orange's 5G NR in Málaga, I have no answer. Either 5G NR access was added later, or I forgot about it 🗿.

How are the Spanish mobile operators, and is Vodafone any good?

All Spanish mobile operators cover practically all of Spain, with availability scores of more than 98.6%, according to Opensignal.

When looking at 5G NR availability, they are not as high (between 11.2% with Vodafone Spain (review) and 16.9% with Orange Spain (review)).

But you will have 5G NR reception in the big cities (like Barcelona and Madrid) – even in Málaga.

Let's focus on speed – Movistar is regarded as the fastest mobile operator (average download speed of 46 Mbps), followed by Orange (38.8 Mbps), Yoigo (31 Mbps – review) & Vodafone.

Even if we look at 5G NR speeds, the ranking does not change, with average download speeds of 250.8 Mbps, 175.5 Mbps, 143.1 Mbps & 106.8 Mbps, respectively.

Then we have upload speeds, ranging from 9.2 Mbps (Yoigo) and 12.3 Mbps (Movistar) – you cannot call it a winner with such a small margin.

Things do look better when we look at 5G NR figures, which range between 20.1 Mbps (Yoigo) and 28.9 Mbps (28.9 Mbps).

Honestly, you do not have to worry about slow speeds in Spain – even around beaches.

I did speed tests with the Speedtest app throughout Milan.

For reference, I consider an average download speed of 25 Mbps and an average upload speed of 10 Mbps fast enough.

Why is that? A more than 25 Mbps download speed is enough to video stream content @ 4k resolution.

Social media sites that do live streaming, like Facebook Live, recommend an upload speed of at least 10 Mbps.

I have way higher standards, but not everyone demands a download speed of 500 Mbps 🤪.

In the section below, you will find various colors and formatting.

Results in dark green mean that the result was the fastest download or upload among all SIM cards and travel eSIMs I tested at that location.

Whereas results in light green were the fastest download or upload within the category (among all SIM cards OR all travel eSIMs) but not the fastest when considering the other category.

The same applies to dark red and light orange results – the slowest download or upload among all (dark red) or the slowest within a category (light orange).

All underlined results are on 5G NR, while results in italics are on 3G – results without additional formatting are on 4G/LTE.

That should clear up the colorful speed test results in the next section.

For now, let's see how the Airalo Eurolink eSIM performed in Málaga.

>>> Get your Airalo Eurolink eSIM now! <<<

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Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM in Málaga Speed Test Results

I used my Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM only in Málaga.

I am excluding the old results of 2022 in Barcelona and Madrid.

Most travel eSIMs I tested in the city could only use one network, although some could use multiple (like Airalo's Eurolink eSIM, which can use all Spanish networks).

In my case, the eSIM defaulted to Vodafone Spain (review).

Other eSIMs also using Vodafone were the old Airalo Discover Global eSIM (rebranded and improved into Discover(+), AIS Global eSIM & Maya Europe.

Airalo's Spain eSIM, Guay Mobile (review), was powered by Play Poland and was on Movistar Spain (review) instead.

So, the next section will mainly compare the Airalo Eurolink, Airalo Guay Mobile, Airalo Discover Global, AIS Global & Maya Europe eSIMs.

Below are the results:

>>> Get your Airalo Eurolink eSIM now! <<<

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My Overall Experience with the Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM in Spain – Is It Worth Your Money?

I would recommend the Airalo Eurolink eSIM, and it would be one of my top recommendations for anyone wanting to buy a European travel eSIM (but not if you only visit Spain).

Getting the Airalo Eurolink eSIM or any other Airalo eSIM is extremely easy.

Airalo is one of the few eSIM providers that allow you to install an eSIM directly to your phone (without the need to scan a QR code), which makes the installation process a piece of cake (hence, I did not spend any time on how to install in this review – it is easy!).

Moreover, you do not have to adjust the APN settings with the Airalo Eurolink eSIM, making it more manageable.

You can access all the Spanish networks with the Eurolink eSIM, and you get 5G NR access on the Orange Spain network.

My phone used Vodafone Spain by default (no 5G NR access).

If you wonder why some country-specific European eSIMs are cheaper than others, they are probably powered by Play Poland.

Like Airalo's Spain eSIM (Guay Mobile – review).

While it is cheaper, the performance with it is often… disappointing.

Unlike the more expensive eSIMs, which are powered by Webbing/Orange France.

Italy's Mamma Mia eSIM (review) is powered by Webbing/Orange France.

The same provider also powers the Eurolink eSIM.

Surprisingly, the Guay Mobile eSIM was often faster than the Eurolink eSIM.

While it was only faster at seven of the 16 test locations, the differences were so significant that the average speed difference was around 20% (36.29 Mbps vs 44.89 Mbps).

One reason could be the Guay Mobile eSIM using the Movistar Spain network (the fastest in the country).

Or Orange France is just a loser in Spain 🗿.

Well… probably not. The AIS Global eSIM was also on Vodafone Spain.

It even had 5G NR access… but the average download speed was only 53.83 Mbps (and I had 5G NR at 13 of the 16 locations).

So, it looks like it is a Vodafone issue (it is slower than the rest, but that was already determined by Opensignal two sections earlier).

Therefore, I recommend manually selecting Movistar or Orange when using the Eurolink eSIM in Spain (the latter gets you 5G NR access).

But overall, the eSIM performed well and had no reception issues. It was not the fastest, but the speeds were not terrible either.

>>> Get your Airalo Eurolink eSIM now! <<<