Moving to Fuerteventura

Telefonica is the major service provider in Fuerteventura for telephone and adsl supply… and in our humble opinion, the sporadic service isn’t of the best quality. However, if you are wanting to get a phone line and ADSL in Fuertventura, then at the moment… Telefonica is your first choice.

Telefonica used to be owned by the state, and were obliged to provide a phone line for any household that required it. This could however take months, and even years to complete in some areas. Nowadays, since it was sold, Telefonica can refuse to install a line if the infrastructure is not in place. At least you know, I suppose! Our first phone line was live within a fortnight of ordering… although our new home is still waiting, and is likely to be so for some time.

To order your services, you can either do it online at www.telefonicaonline.es or by phone from within Spain on 0034 902 118 247. Make your call between the hours of 10am and 6pm Spanish time (remember Fuerteventura is on GMT). Telefonica’s sales department has  English speaking operators now to make life easier… and have the following information to hand:

• Your passport & NIE numbers
• Your bank details
• The full postal address of your property
• An old Telefonica bill if you are simply changing address

We haven’t posted the tariffs here, as these can change dependant upon which package you get, and there are quite often special introductory offers which can save you money too. Please also be aware that you may be charged for 3gb connection, when only 1gb is available. It’s only a couple of euros, but don’t assume that simply because you’re paying for it, that it is available.

There are other service providers also, such as mobile phone operators. So if you would like to look elsewhere, then have a look at the 3G cards available from such providers as Vodaphone and Orange. We’ve recently plumped for Vodaphone, which gives us unlimited usage for just over €40 per month.

Telefonica do not charge you for landline to landline calls within Spain – which is great for saving you money. For mobile calls, or for overseas calls, we recommend using Skype – it has free Skype-to-Skype calls through your computer, and very very cheap call charges to landlines around the world. It is free to set up, and very simple to use.

Good luck!