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 Guay Mobile (Spain) 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 Guay Mobile eSIM any good? Let's find out.
Original publication: 30th of January 2024. Last updated: 29th of February 2024.
Table of Contents
Airalo's List of Compatible eSIM-Supported Phones
Before I even focus on Airalo's Guay Mobile (Spain) eSIM, 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 Guay Mobile eSIM.
Airalo Guay Mobile (Spain) eSIM Prices
You can get the Airalo Guay Mobile (Spain) eSIM for between 4.50 USD (1 GB for 7 days) and 26 USD (20 GB for 30 days).
Below is an overview of how much each Airalo Guay Mobile eSIM costs:
- Spain/Guay Mobile 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 4.50 USD
- Spain/Guay Mobile 2 GB eSIM for 15 days, costing
6.505 USD (on sale) - Spain/Guay Mobile 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 8.50 USD
- Spain/Guay Mobile 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 11.50 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Spain/Guay Mobile 10 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing
1812 USD (on sale) – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers - Spain/Guay Mobile 20 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 26 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in December based on data up to the 30th of December (2023 data only). The (promotional) prices were updated on the 31st of January.
The links above will bring you to the Guay Mobile eSIM product page.
And if you already have the Airalo app installed on your phone, the links will open the respective app (Android or iOS).
Regardless of the currency used in your country, Airalo will always charge you in USD (US Dollar).
If your credit/debit card charges you foreign exchange fees, get yourself a Wise Borderless Account and Debit Card.
Their fees are MUCH lower than banks and credit card companies charge you (and Wise is transparent about their fees, unlike banks).
I have saved THOUSANDS of Australian Dollars and Euros, my main currencies, when using Wise abroad when traveling compared to my debit and credit cards.
What if you buy the 10 GB Guay Mobile eSIM, as I did, and realize you need another 5 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 Guay Mobile eSIM for the same amount of data and prices as listed earlier.
The 5 GB top-up would still cost 11.50 USD as if you bought the 5 GB eSIM from the start.
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 Guay Mobile 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 Guay Mobile eSIM now! <<<
My Airalo Guay Mobile eSIM in Spain Experience
I used my Airalo Guay Mobile (Spain) eSIM only in Málaga during this trip.
Travel eSIMs, including the Spain 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 Spain eSIM uses Movistar Spain network (review) while being powered by Play from Poland (so your phone, some apps, or sites you visit may claim you are on Play instead of Airalo – that is correct).
How are the Spanish mobile operators, and is Movistar 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, which is not available with the Guay Mobile eSIM, 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 Guay Mobile eSIM performed in Málaga.
>>> Get your Airalo Guay Mobile eSIM now! <<<
Airalo Guay Mobile (Spain) eSIM in Málaga Speed Test Results
I used my Airalo Guay Mobile (Spain) eSIM only in Málaga.
Most travel eSIMs I tested in the city could only use one network, although some could use multiple (like Airalo's Eurolink (Europe) eSIM (review), which can use all Spanish networks).
The Alosim Spain eSIM was powered by the same provider as the Airalo Spain eSIM, Play Poland, and also on Movistar Spain (review) – no 5G NR access.
The same counts for the Nomad Europe eSIM, but it is powered by Tele2 Sweden instead.
So, the next section will mainly compare the Airalo Guay Mobile, Alosim Spain & Nomad Europe eSIMs.
Below are the results:
Fast speeds with the Airalo Guay Mobile eSIM.
On this trip, I did not (re-)test any Spanish SIM cards because I tested them the year before.
Hence, the screenshot above did not show the results of Movistar, as I usually do in my reviews.
The best download speed I got with the Airalo Spain eSIM was 190.84 Mbps at Parque de Ejercicios.
That was also the fastest result with any eSIM in Málaga 😎.
The Alosim eSIM performed well with a download speed of 140.91 Mbps, whereas the Nomad Europe eSIM got a speed of 12.86 – the slowest among all.
Speaking a bit more of the Nomad Europe eSIM, it was generally throttled @ 35 Mbps (imposed by Tele2 Sweden).
Although I sometimes got faster speeds than that by accident (like 75.07 Mbps at Centro Comercial Larios Centro).
Nomad informed me that it would discuss increasing speeds with Tele2 Sweden. I have yet to try a European Nomad eSIM after the summer of 2023. Once I do, I will let you know whether speeds are normal or still throttled).
How did Airalo's Guay Mobile do at this location? It was the slowest with Centro Comercial Larios Centro (21.46 Mbps).
Here, the Holafly Europe eSIM was the fastest (154.57 Mbps (5G)).
Holafly's eSIM was the only eSIM with 5G NR access in Spain (on Orange Spain – review).
Back to the Airalo Spain eSIM, it was the fastest at Aeropuerto Station (34.46 Mbps) and Restaurante El Tintero (77.43 Mbps).
The Maya Europe eSIM was also powered by Play Poland, but it used Vodafone Spain instead.
And it was the slowest eSIM I used in Spain 😩.
Why the Maya Europe eSIM was on a different network than Airalo Guay Mobile and Alosim Spain while all being powered by Play Poland, I do not know.
However, Maya informed me it would switch providers by the end of 2023 because too many customers complained about Play Poland's lousy performance.
At least… for its customers – the performance with the Guay Mobile eSIM was alright in Malaga.
Even if we look at upload speeds – the eSIM was the fastest at Aeropuerto Station (8.70 Mbps), McDonald's @ Centro Comercial Los Patios (22.95 Mbps), Parque de Ejercicios (32 Mbps) & Vialia Maria Zambrano Mall (33.27 Mbps).
Overall, I got an average download speed of 44.98 Mbps with the eSIM and an average upload speed of 17.61 Mbps.
And those are good figures – imagine how much better they would be if the eSIM had 5G NR access.
Hopefully, that will be soon 👀.
>>> Get your Airalo Guay Mobile eSIM now! <<<
My Overall Experience with the Airalo Guay Mobile eSIM in Spain – Is It Worth Your Money?
I would recommend the Airalo Guay Mobile (Spain), and it would be one of my top eSIM recommendations for anyone wanting to buy an eSIM for Spain.
Getting the Airalo Guay Mobile 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 Guay Mobile eSIM, making it more manageable.
In other news, Airalo's Guay Mobile eSIMs were one of the more affordable eSIMs I tested on this trip while having one of the most options to choose from (1 GB, 2 GB, 3 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB & 20 GB).
You get access to the Movistar Spain network (review), which is the best in the country.
I got an average download speed of 44.89 Mbps, the third-fastest with the eight eSIMs I tested.
However, regarding coverage and reception, I had no issues with the Guay Mobile eSIM on the Movistar Spain network.
If 20 GB of data is not enough for you, consider Holafly's Spain or Europe eSIM because it offers unlimited data plans for between 5 days (19 USD) and 90 days (99 USD).
I used the Holafly Europe eSIM in Spain because (1) there is no price difference between the regional Europe eSIM and country-specific European Holafly eSIM and (2) I visited multiple European countries.
And European eSIMs are not throttled significantly unlike most other Holafly eSIMs with unlimited data options (up to 18 Mbps – sometimes even 10 Mbps).
But as you can see in the screenshots above, these eSIMs are more expensive than Airalo's.
By using a near-perfect 4G/LTE network, offering affordable data plans & offering fast download speeds, you should have a smooth browsing experience with the Airalo Guay Mobile eSIM.
>>> Get your Airalo Guay Mobile eSIM now! <<<
Spain eSIM & SIM Card Reviews
Besides Airalo's Guay Mobile (Spain) eSIM, I also tried other Airalo eSIMs and other travel eSIMs in the country.
I encourage you to read those reviews to decide which eSIM suits your needs.
>>> Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM in Spain | Airalo Discover Global eSIM in Spain (not sold anymore) | AIS Global eSIM in Spain | Alosim Spain eSIM | Holafly Europe eSIM in Spain | Maya Mobile Europe eSIM in Spain | Nomad Europe eSIM in Spain <<<
No clickable link above? The review is being written. Come back later or sign up for the Phone Travel Wiz newsletter to get notified!
- Check out my eSIM reviews page if you want to read all the other eSIM reviews I have written, including those I tested in other European countries.
Besides travel eSIMs, I also tried Spanish SIM cards (the year before).
You can find those below.
>>> Movistar Spain | Orange Spain | Vodafone Spain | Yoigo <<<
