Dialling Code for Spain From UK: the Complete 2026 Guide

Quick Answer: dialling code for spain from uk

Get your eSIM for Spain before you travel.

![Aerial view of Málaga Cathedral, a key landmark when planning calls using the dialling code for Spain from UK.

To dial Spain from the UK, use 00 34 then the full 9-digit Spanish number [thevoipshop.co.uk. On a mobile, +34 replaces the 00 exit code. Spain's country code is 34 [countrycode.org, and there's no trunk digit to drop, no leading zero to remove.

For a Madrid landline beginning 91, that's 00 34 91 XXX XXXX from a UK landline, or +34 91 XXX XXXX on a smartphone. The same rule applies whether you're ringing Barcelona, the Canary Islands, or a Spanish mobile.

Tidy.

Heading to Spain and want to sidestep carrier roaming charges? [eSIM for Spain run on Vodafone's 4G network, which means you can route calls through WhatsApp or any VoIP app rather than burning through UK plan minutes. A decent buffer against post-Brexit roaming fees.

Wherever in Spain you're calling, the country code and the nine-digit rule stay the same.

The dialling code for Spain from the UK

![Dialling code for Spain from UK displayed on a tablet, helping travellers connect with Spanish contacts.

The full sequence is 00 34 followed immediately by all 9 digits of the Spanish number. Not 00 34 plus a separate area code. Just the country code, then the complete local number as one unbroken string.

Spain's national numbering plan is closed, meaning the area code is already absorbed into those 9 digits [flamingodigital.co.uk. UK callers used to dialling 020 for London and then eight local digits sometimes try to split Spanish numbers the same way. That won't work. In Spain, it's a single 9-digit block from start to finish.

Step by step

1. Check international calls are enabled on your UK plan. EE, O2, Vodafone, and Three include this by default on most pay monthly contracts. Older PAYG tariffs can have it blocked, and if a call produces silence rather than a ring or engaged tone, that's usually the culprit.
2. From a UK landline, dial 00 34 then the full 9-digit Spanish number.
3. From a mobile, use +34 (press and hold 0 until the + symbol appears). The + handles the international exit code automatically, regardless of which country you're calling from [avatel.es.
4. Dial all 9 digits. No additional prefix, no modifications.

Calling from Spain on a UK SIM

Post-Brexit, UK carriers can apply daily roaming charges in EU countries, and the big networks do. Out-of-bundle calls from a UK SIM in Spain run to around £1.50 per minute on the major networks. The sensible alternative is VoIP: route calls over data through WhatsApp, FaceTime Audio, or a similar app, and your carrier's per-minute rate stops mattering.

Key fact: HelloRoam offers Spain [eSIM data plans from ~£1.40 for 1GB over 7 days, on Vodafone's 4G network.

That's enough data for a day of navigation and a string of internet calls, without activating a pricey roaming bundle.

The sequence is always 00 34 (or +34) then 9 digits, regardless of whether you're ringing a Madrid office or a Mallorcan mobile. But which number type are you dialling exactly?

Spanish number formats when dialling Spain from the UK

![Spanish flag waving against a blue sky, representing the country reached via the dialling code for Spain from UK.

Every Spanish phone number is exactly 9 digits long. Spain completed a national numbering reform in 1998, folding all shorter regional numbers into a 9-digit closed plan. That standard has been in place ever since, and it makes the dialling rules straightforward for UK callers.

No trunk prefix exists in Spain's system. Several European countries use a leading zero for domestic calls that you'd drop when dialling from abroad. France, Germany, Italy all follow that pattern. Spain never did. You dial exactly the digits a Spanish resident would dial domestically, nothing added and nothing removed.

Key fact: Spain operates a closed 9-digit numbering plan with no trunk prefix.

The 900 trap

Calling a Spanish 900 freephone number from the UK doesn't come free. The 900 prefix signals a toll-free call within Spain's domestic network. From a UK number, your carrier treats it as a standard international call and bills accordingly. The same applies to 80x service numbers.

Tried dialling a 6 or 7-digit Spanish number? Those shorter formats were retired in 1998 and no longer connect. If a business card or travel booking shows fewer than 9 digits, that number is out of date. Ask the contact for the current version.

Mobile and landline formats differ in one key way.

Mobile vs landline: how Spanish numbers are structured

![Vintage payphone keypad illustrating the difference between Spanish mobile and landline number formats.

Spanish mobile numbers start with 6 or 7. Landlines start with 9, and that opening digit begins the area code. Madrid numbers begin 91, Barcelona 93, Mallorca 971, Tenerife 922, Gran Canaria 928 [rebtel.com.

The area code isn't a separate block you dial before the local number. It's embedded in the first two or three digits of the full 9-digit string. UK callers used to London's 020 prefix followed by eight digits sometimes expect a similar split. In Spain, it's all one continuous run of digits, area code included.

Texting a Spanish number uses the same format as a voice call: +34 then 9 digits. No separate SMS prefix, no distinction between mobile and landline. Your phone handles both identically.

No Spanish number starts with 0. If a number you've been given opens with a zero, it's incomplete or wrong. Nine digits, no leading zero, and you're dialling correctly.

Dialling the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands from the UK

![Cap de Formentor lighthouse in Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands reachable using UK dialling codes for Spain.

Both the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands use exactly the same +34 code as mainland Spain. No separate prefix. No additional country code. Tenerife and Gran Canaria numbers begin with 922 and 928 respectively; Mallorca and the wider Balearic Islands use 971. The dialling sequence from the UK stays identical throughout: 00 34, then the full nine-digit number [rebtel.com.

That catches people out. The Canary Islands sit geographically off the northwest African coast, closer to Morocco than to Madrid. Travellers sometimes assume they operate under a different numbering system. They don't. Spain's telephone plan covers every territory under a single code, regardless of geography.

Ceuta and Melilla sit on the African continent itself, but both are Spanish sovereign territories and both use +34. Dial them exactly as you would a number in Seville.

The nine-digit rule applies everywhere the Spanish flag flies.

How much does it cost to call Spain from the UK?

![British BT phone booths on a city street, representing the cost of calling Spain from the UK.

Calling Spain from the UK on a standard contract, out of bundle, is expensive. The big four (EE, O2, Vodafone, Three) charge the per-minute rate detailed in an earlier section, which makes even a short call to a Spanish estate agent or Airbnb host a cost worth watching [vodafone.co.uk.

Budget MVNOs pull the rate down, but you're still paying for every minute. The most dramatic saving comes from Skype Out for calls to Spanish landlines: around £0.02 per minute. That's not a typo. A fifteen-minute call to a Barcelona letting office costs about 30p.

International add-ons from major carriers do reduce the cost, but fair use caps limit how useful they are in practice. Read the small print before committing; some plans restrict international minutes more tightly than the marketing suggests.

One date worth flagging: BT's PSTN (public switched telephone network) is switching off in January 2027. Traditional landline callers will need to have migrated to a VoIP-based line by then. Calls routed via legacy infrastructure at either end will be affected. VoIP calls over Wi-Fi or mobile data sidestep this entirely, and cost effectively nothing when you have a decent connection.

Cheaper options exist, and most are already on your phone.

Free ways to call Spain from the UK using apps and data

![Woman smiling in a red London phone booth, using a free app to call Spain from the UK.

WhatsApp, FaceTime, and Signal all carry voice calls to Spain for free, provided both sides have a data connection or Wi-Fi. For most personal calls, one of those three covers everything.

The decision breaks down by situation:

• Calling a friend or family member: WhatsApp or FaceTime. Free, instant, and both apps support video if needed.
• Calling a Spanish landline or business: Skype Out, at the rate shown in the table above. No app required at the receiving end, which matters when ringing hotels, doctors, or letting agencies.
• High-volume business calls: SIP trunking routes calls over internet infrastructure (Session Initiation Protocol), cutting per-minute costs at scale. For a casual traveller making the occasional call? It's more complexity than the situation requires.
• Calling from Spain, not just to it: A data-only eSIM turns roaming into a non-issue. Run WhatsApp over a local Spanish data connection and you're effectively making free local calls.

The calculus shifts once you actually land in Spain.

VoIP apps and when to use them

![Hand unlocking a smartphone beside a cup of tea, ready to use a VoIP app to call Spain.

Pick the right app and international calls to Spain cost nothing. Get it wrong and you're still paying per minute.

WhatsApp, Signal, and FaceTime cover most personal calls without charge. The limiting factor: both people need the same app installed. That rules them out for cold calls to Spanish businesses, hotels, or anyone who hasn't given you a contact on a specific platform.

Pros: - Free over Wi-Fi or mobile data, in either direction - WhatsApp and Signal add encrypted messaging and voice notes alongside calls - No SIM swap or plan change required

Cons: - Recipient must have the app and be reachable on it - Call quality degrades on patchy connections - Not suited to Spanish landlines, freephone numbers, or businesses without app accounts

SIP trunking is the business-grade alternative, routing large call volumes over internet infrastructure rather than traditional phone lines. For individual travellers? Overkill.

Pair any VoIP app with a data plan that doesn't throttle mid-call, and international calls to Spain become, in practice, free.

Staying connected in Spain: eSIM, roaming and local SIMs

![Spanish flag in Cádiz on a sunny day, representing staying connected in Spain with an eSIM or roaming plan.

Post-Brexit, UK carriers no longer offer free EU roaming as standard. EE, Vodafone and O2 all apply daily roaming fees when your UK SIM is active in Spain. Three's Feel At Home plan still covers some EU destinations without a daily charge, but a fair-use data cap applies and speeds throttle once you hit it.

The myth worth debunking: roaming in Spain on a UK SIM is not universally free anymore.

Many travellers discover this on their first post-Brexit trip to the Costa Brava, when the mobile bill arrives with a string of daily access charges they hadn't budgeted for. An eSIM sidesteps that calculation entirely. You activate it at home before you fly, scan the QR code at your kitchen table, and arrive in Málaga with a live data connection on Spain's 4G network, which reaches around 99% of the population. No airport kiosk queue, no hunting for a nano-SIM tray in a crowded arrivals hall.

Dual SIM is the sensible setup for most people.

Keep your UK number active on the physical SIM for bank verification texts and two-factor authentication codes. Run your data through the eSIM. The two coexist without conflict on any dual-SIM-capable phone, and you're never unreachable on either.

One practical detail that catches people out: Spain runs UTC+1 in winter and UTC+2 in summer, which puts it two hours ahead of the UK during British Summer Time [timeanddate.com. That matters when you're scheduling a call to a Spanish estate agent or timing a FaceTime home before the kids go to bed.

For stays longer than a fortnight, a local Spanish SIM bought at a phone shop or large supermarket can cut costs further, though passport registration and activation delays make it a less brisk option for shorter trips.

Still unsure about the dialling steps themselves?

How to dial a +34 number from the UK?

![Smartphone screen showing a dialled +34 number, demonstrating how to use the dialling code for Spain from UK.

Dialling +34 from a UK phone is functionally identical to dialling 00 34, with one practical advantage: the + symbol tells your handset to insert the correct international exit code automatically, so the number works whether you're at home in Bristol or already sitting in a bar in Seville [avatel.es.

The single most common mistake is adding a zero immediately after the +34.

You might see a Spanish number written with a leading 0 on an old business card or printed hotel listing, particularly from anything printed before 1998. That format is obsolete. Spain operates a closed nine-digit numbering plan with no trunk prefix whatsoever. Type +34, then the nine digits exactly as given. There's no zero in between, ever.

Before you dial, check whether international calling is actually active on your plan. Some budget SIM-only contracts block outbound international calls by default, and the frustrating thing is there's often no error tone to tell you so. You dial, you wait, and nothing happens. A quick message to your carrier's chat support usually enables it within minutes.

Spanish 900 numbers deserve a specific heads-up. They're freephone inside Spain, but when dialled from abroad they frequently connect to silence, or to an automated message explaining the number is unavailable from your location. If you're trying to reach a Spanish company on a 900 number, check their website for an alternative geographic number starting with 91, 93, or a regional prefix.

Saving Spanish contacts with the full +34 prefix from the start means you never need to reformat a number when you travel, and the same contact works correctly whichever country you're calling from.

One notation trips people up more than any other.

Which country code is 00346?

00346 is not a standalone country code. It's the opening sequence of a Spanish mobile number written in the older international dialling format: 00 is the UK international exit code, 34 is Spain's country code, and 6 is the first digit of a Spanish mobile number [countrycode.org. Nine further digits must follow to make it a complete, dialable number.

If you've been given 00346 as part of a number, the full sequence will be 00346 plus eight more digits. Remove the 0034 exit and country code, and what remains is a nine-digit Spanish mobile starting with 6. That's the number. That's what goes after +34.

The confusion is understandable. Strings of digits that begin 00346 look like they might be a code in their own right. They aren't.

Do you remove the 0 when using +44?

Yes, for UK numbers. Drop the leading zero before adding +44. A UK mobile written as 07911 123456 becomes +44 7911 123456 for anyone ringing from abroad [ukandspain.com. That opening zero is a trunk prefix, a domestic routing digit used only within the UK dialling system. Once you step outside it and dial internationally, the country code takes its place.

Here's where it gets simpler than most people expect: Spanish numbers have no equivalent complication.

Spain's nine-digit numbering plan carries no trunk prefix at all. A Madrid landline beginning with 91 stays 91 in the international format. A Barcelona number starting with 93 stays 93. There is no zero to strip, no extra digit to add or remove. You write +34, then the nine digits exactly as a Spanish contact would read them out to you.

The underlying rule, applied to both countries: the country code replaces whatever local exit digit the domestic system uses. For the UK, that exit digit is the leading 0. For Spain, there is no such digit, so nothing changes.

The rule only applies in one direction. Spanish callers ringing a UK number must drop your leading 0 and add +44. But if you're giving your UK mobile to a Spanish contact, share it in +44 format from the start. UK 07xxx becomes +44 7xxx. Storing your own number that way in your phone's contacts makes it easy to copy and share correctly, regardless of who's asking.