Free wifi in Spain: Everything you need to know

Free wifi in Spain:  Everything you need to know

You are enjoying some delicious pintxos with red wine in a very and picturesque tavern in San Sebastian, Spain. The music is great, there are beautiful girls dancing Flamenco and you are having a blast. In a second your happiness turns into anxiety because you just have remembered the date and it is time to pay your rent back home. Besides, you ran out of data on your smartphone because you spent all morning video-chatting with your mom. No worries! Your vacations will not be ruined; this town has free Wi-Fi. Pretty useful, isn’t?  So keep reading us for learning everything you need to know about free Wi-Fi in Spain.  

Spain is a very exciting place to visit because it offers many options for everybody. It has spectacular museums and cathedrals such as Prado Museum and La Sagrada Familia; fun and beautiful beaches like the Balearic Islands, and exquisite gastronomy with its paellas and the escalivada. Besides, this European country has a very excellent technological surprise.

In this sense, the European Commission has launched a great initiative called WiFi4EU which promotes the free access of citizens to Wi-Fi connectivity in public spaces such as parks, squares, official buildings, libraries, health centers and museums of municipalities throughout Europe. This idea offers municipalities the opportunity to request bonuses worth 15,000 euros which will be used to install Wi-Fi equipment in public spaces of the municipality that are not yet equipped with a Wi-Fi access point. 

Discover the importance of counting on free Wi-Fi in Spain

 Nowadays, internet connection is made more through the mobile than from the computer, which has made everyone have a data rate on their mobile. A different operator offer different plans to talk and navigate and so you can choose the one that best suits your needs, preferences, and budgets. However, the ease of finding free Wi-Fi hotspots almost anywhere in the world makes many people contract rates with a small amount of data and then rely heavily on free Wi-Fi hotspots when they leave home. As a matter of fact, the Internet is a window to the world, a service available to everyone. It allows you to stay informed, carry out your work, keep in touch with your loved ones and carry out daily activities in a much simpler way than a few years ago.

 

On the other hand, having free Wi-Fi is very important for many people to prefer one place to another. That is, if for someone it is very important that there is Wi-Fi to the restaurant that you are going to have breakfast because you have to work with your laptop at that time, you will choose a restaurant that has free and quality Wi-Fi in front of another that does not have it. Having access to the internet is an important factor both for people who travel for business and for those who do it for pleasure. Studies have revealed that 90% of businessmen and women want to have Wi-Fi in their hotel room, while a third of respondents said they would not return to a hotel that has not offered this service. To sum up, it is a fact the internet is a human right, and all the humans demand to obtain it.

How to get free Wi-Fi in Spain?

 

Nowadays, telephone companies offer various plans with a lot of data at a very affordable price, but on the other hand, not everyone can take advantage of them, either because they do not have coverage in the area where they are and can only choose certain operators, because they have a certain commitment to stay or because they want to have the Internet connection from home and mobile lines in the same company and this does not offer any of the services or do not reach their home. You can identify free Wi-Fi zones. Wi-Fi networks are everywhere; however, not all offer a free connection. Only free hotspots, which do not have a password, are the Wi-Fi that provides free Internet. Otherwise, it would be necessary to pay for a service to enjoy access to the hotspot.  First, you can do a search with your smartphone to know which ones are available around you and know if they have an established password. If the Wi-Fi network does not have a security protocol, it is possible to connect without any problems.  There are also apps to find free Wi-Fi. They allow you to establish a Wi-Fi connection automatically, evaluate the signal, and show the level of security and, on a map, all the accesses available in the study area. Besides, you can also go to a commercial establishment, because in most cases, they offer their customers free Wi-Fi access. It is possible to identify these areas through promotional notices on these premises. Depending on the policies of the commercial establishment, you will have to consume a product to enjoy the Wi-Fi network; hence it is not really “free”. 

Consider the dark side of free Wi-Fi in Spain:

 It is true that counting with free Wi-Fi spots may get you out of troubles, nonetheless, there are many risks involved in its use.  First, free Wi-Fi connection points do not require authentication to establish a network connection. This creates an incredible opportunity for the hacker to gain unrestricted access to unprotected devices on the same network. In this way, the hacker has access to all the information that is sent through the Internet: important emails, credit card information and even security credentials. Once the hacker has that information, it can access your systems as if it were you. It is impossible to know if free Wi-Fi is secure. And, the names of the apparently safe-looking Wi-Fi are no guarantee, since any cybercriminal can name his Hotspot as the name of the establishment in which you are. Moreover, these free hotspots are usually slow because many of them do not receive proper maintenance and for the number of people who are connected at the same time. So if you are going to send home the video you filmed when you spent New Year's Eve at Puerta del Sol in Madrid, it may be impossible for you in a free Wi-Fi network.

Know the best solution to be connected in Spain

 The big recommendation to use public and free Wi-Fi is avoiding doing banking operations, online purchasing and any other operation that involves sharing your personal information.  Nevertheless, if you are a person who depends on the permanent internet connection, you need to have a Pocket Wi-Fi.  The guys from My Webspot offer a fantastic Mi-Fi which is a small wireless hotspot that connects to the internet through a mobile network (in 4G) and broadcast a Wi-Fi that allows any Wi-Fi enabled device to get access to the internet with a fast and secure connection. They even deliver the device to your home or staying address, so you can receive it before your trip to Spain or once you get there. 

With this mobile hotspot, you will give you full access to the internet. You will also have access to every data consuming application of your smartphone, tablet or computer. Also, you can connect up to 5 devices at the same time on a Pocket Wi-Fi (Computer, Tablet, and Phone). So if you are traveling to Spain with a group, you all will have internet access.

Finally, now that you already have the right info, you can travel happy and safe to marvelous Spain when you go to the beautiful Retiro Park, try to see the goblin: Legend says that if you see it, you will find love!

*Unlimited internet with Daily Fair Usage Policy applies. Europe & USA: 1GB in 4G/LTE - Mexico : 2GB - South East Asia, Japan & China: Unlimited 4G/LTE - Rest of the world: 500MB in 4G /LTE. Throttled speed of up to 512kbps afterwards.