Telephone numbers in Spain

The Spanish telephone numbering plan describes the allocation of telephone numbers in Spain. It is regulated by CMT (Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones).

[+] History

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

xxx xxx[x] (within Spain before 1998)
9x xxx xxxx (within Spain, since 1998) 
+34 x xxx xxxx (outside Spain before 1998) 
+34 9x xxx xxxx (since 1998)

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 provincial code 9567 was used instead of the international code 350, eg:

 9567 xxxxx (Gibraltar from Spain)
 +350 xxxxx (Gibraltar from all other countries) 
 +34 9567 xxxxx (Gibraltar via Spain)

This arrangement was discontinued on 10 February 2007 when Spain adopted the international 00350 prefix for all calls to Gibraltar. See Gibraltar telecom dispute.

[+] International Number Lengths

Minimum number length after International prefix : 3 digits (Most numbers, other than service numbers, are at least 9 digits.)

Maximum number length after International prefix : 9 digits

[+] Present Numbering Plan

There is no Long Distance Prefix in Spanish numbers. If you are trying to call 91 234 5678, you must use that exact number from Spain, and +34 91 234 5678 from abroad.

[+] Landlines

Spanish landline phone numbers total nine digits: a two or three-digit area code and a six or seven-digit phone number (e.g. 91 234 5678) beginning with the digit 9 (or sometimes 8) but excluding 90 and 80. Landline area codes follow a geographic numbering system.

[+] Mobile Phones

Mobile phone numbers begin with 6 or 7, followed by 8 digits (6xy zzz zzz 7xy zzz zzz), where x 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 (6xy or 7xy).

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.^[1]

[+] 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, 7X (X: numbers other than zero), 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 ^[2]

[+] Telephone prefixes

Spanish Prefix Map

[+] References

[+] External links

• Spanish Numbering plan from CMT/Spanish Communications Regulator (Spanish)
• Operator codes assigned to each network - Due to portability it can change - Registration Needed
• Real Decreto 2296/2004, de 10 de diciembre (Spanish)
• Resolución de 30 de junio de 2005, de la Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones y para la Sociedad de la Información por la que se atribuyen recursos públicos de numeración al servicio telefónico fijo disponible al público y a los servicios vocales nómadas, y se adjudican determinados indicativos provinciales (Spanish)