Telephone numbers in Spain

History

Spain changed to a closed telephone numbering plan in 1998. Previously, the trunk prefix was '9x[x]', but this was incorporated into the subscriber's number, so that a nine-digit number was used for all calls, e.g.:

xx[x] xx xx (within the same province, until 1998) 9x[x] xx[x] xxxx (within Spain) +34 9x[x] xx[x] xxxx (outside Spain)

Mobiles similarly changed: they are now prefixed with the digit '6' or '7':

909 xxx xxx (within Spain before 1998) +34 09 xxx xxx (outside Spain before 1998) +34 6xx xxx xxx (since 1998) +34 7yx xxx xxx (since 2009-10; note y cannot be 0 (zero) because this is allocated as a personal number, see below)

New numbering ranges have also since been introduced:

10xx Carrier selection codes 5xx xxx xxx Personal Numbering 8xx xxx xxx Geographic expansion 800 xxx xxx Freephone 900 xxx xxx Freephone 80x xxx xxx Shared cost 90x xxx xxx Shared cost

Spain's international access code also changed from 07 to 00, but this did not affect dialing arrangements for calls to Gibraltar, in which the domestic prefix 9567 was used instead of the international code 350, e.g.:

9567 xxxxx (Gibraltar from Spain) (before 2007) +350 xxxxx (Gibraltar from all other countries, including Spain since 2007) +34 9567 xxxxx (Gibraltar via Spain (before 2007))

The old arrangement was discontinued on 10 February 2007 when Spain adopted the international 00350 prefix for all calls to Gibraltar, thereby beinging to an end a dispute between Gibraltar and Spain.

Mobile Phones

Mobile phone numbers begin with 6 or 7, followed by 8 digits (6xx xxx xxx or 7yx xxx xxx), where y can be 1 to 9, not 0 (zero). Note, numbers starting with 70 are personal numbers which can be re-directed to any other number by the personal owner. Since the blocks of mobile phone numbers are allocated according to demand from the service providers, there is not necessarily a unique service provider indicated by the three digit numbering group (6xx or 7yx).

In October 2009, new legislation was approved to grant the allocation of up to 80,000,000 new numbers beginning with number 7 (followed by 8 digits) to supplement the existing group beginning with number 6 (followed by 8 digits); due to the lack of available numbers to satisfy the increasing demand for mobile phone and other mobile / wireless services.

Personal Numbering

Personal numbers are used as redirection IDs. The owner of a personal number may request, for example, any call to its personal number to be redirected to any other number it wants.

Personal numbers begin with 5, followed by 8 digits.

Other numbers

Numbers starting with 2, 3, 4, 5, and 99 are reserved.

Numbers starting with 0 and 1 are used to compose short numbers or for prefixes.

Numbers starting with 80 and 90 are used for premium rates, toll free, and internet access numbers. 803, 806, and 807 prefixes are used for premium rate calls, where the caller pays a fixed amount of money per minute. 905 numbers are supposed to be used for voting systems. Calls have a limited duration (typically 3 minutes), and are charged a fixed rate per call. They are often used in TV shows as a substitutive of 80 numbers, both for image reasons and because operators are not obliged to block them on a user request, as 80 numbers are

800 and 900 numbers are freephone numbers in Spain. They are usually available from landlines but not from mobiles. 901 and 902 numbers are Non Geographic Numbers. These have been widely introduced by the call centres of large multinational European businesses. Unlike other normal Spanish phone numbers beginning 910 onwards, 901 and 902 numbers are always excluded from inclusive call bundles on Spanish landlines and mobiles. 902 numbers are also extremely expensive to call from Spanish mobiles. 901 and 902 numbers are also premium rated if calling Spain from overseas and low cost international call carriers to Spain normally refuse to connect calls to 901 and 902 numbers.