Phones
Spanish public phones work well and have instructions in English; you'll find plenty of cabinas on the street. They accept coins and phonecards, which you can buy in tobacconists - the phones display instructions to help you as you go. Avoid using the old-style green-coloured phones which you'll find in many bars and hotels, their rates are higher and you can't make anything except for a simple coin call. If you have no option then note that with these phones you have to rest the coins in the groove at the top and they'll drop when someone answers (you may have to push a button when the other party picks up). Spanish provincial (and some overseas) dialling codes are displayed in the cabins. The ringing tone is long; engaged is shorter and rapid; the standard Spanish response is ¿diga? (speak), or in Barcelona, a less linguistically committal ¿Si? . For international calls , you can use any of the modern cabins, paying with either coins or a card, with a credit card , or a charge card issued by your domestic telephone company, whereby all calls made from overseas will automatically be billed to your home account. Contact your home long-distance provider to see if they have an overseas direct-dial service (such as AT&T Direct, Bell Canada Direct or BT Direct) from Spain. They will provide you with a number that you can dial free from cabins and which will connect you directly with one of their operators in your home country. Credit cards are not recommended for local and national calls, since most have a minimum charge which is far more than a normal call is likely to cost. Without a credit card, your cheapest option for international calls are the now ubiquitous locutorios - private phone shops which specialize in overseas connections - which you will find scattered through the old city. If the rates to the country which you want to call are not posted, just ask. You'll then be assigned a cabin to make your calls, and afterwards you pay in cash. If you want to make a reverse-charge call ( cobro revertido ) via the Spanish operator, you'll have to go to a Telefonica office. Avoid making any phone calls from your hotel room, as even local calls will be slapped with a heavy surcharge, and "no charge" calls to international operators may be charged as well. The most convenient (and cheapest) way to make local and long-distance calls may be by using unidos phonecards, issued by one of Telefonica's new competitors. These rechargeable cards can be purchased at newspaper and tobacco stands and have rates which are much better than Telefonica's. To make a local, national or international call, dial the toll-free number indicated on the card (no coins are necessary) and you can proceed according to English language instructions. In general, international and domestic rates are slightly cheaper after 10pm, and after 2pm on Saturday and all day Sunday.
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" Pamplona/BarcelonaRod says "Hi I just would like some advice on barcelona and pamplona on where to go and things I should'nt leave there without going to. Thanks My e-mail is rigochevere@yahoo.com"
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