Just to let interested people know, I purchased a prepaid microsim for an iPad at the Orange store at Passeig de Gracia 6 in Barcelona. This Orange store (there are others) is almost opposite the Apple store (not hard to remember!). It cost 40 euros for 30 days. It was 35 euros the week before - taxes went up in Spain from 18% to 21% on the 1st September. I didn't compare rates with any other companies. A passport was required and the man at the store spoke English and had the iPad up and running very quickly.

I found Orange to have good coverage from San Sebastian in the north to Ronda in the south with the exception of a short distance on the train between (I think) Ronda and Grenada. WiFi was used in hotels but the signal strength varied and I switched to cellular data at times.

Hope this helps someone.

You can also go to the Orange booth at the El Corts Ingles stores and purchase the card. This is what I've done for my last 3 trips.

I followed Your advice CathyM on my post and went to the orange counter in El Cortes in Malaga. I paid €35 on 12 sept but this seemed to include tax at 21% so maybe there are different prices at different outlets? The SIM card cost a further €20. The coverage and speed have been excellent.

Any ideas how I can recharge the card when I return in a couple of weeks??

If the number is still active in your name, you can recharge it at any Orange store, or at any El Corte Inglés store that offers the service.

I didn't need to pay 20 euros for the card at the Orange store in Barcelona - just 40 euros all up.

At the Orange booth at the El Cortes Ingles store iwas a total of about 37.5€ now (used to be 35€ exactly but VAT tax increased in Sept). This included the micro sim and 30 days service and all taxes. All 3 times I've done it they haveen't charged me the additional 20€ for the card but applied it to the monthly cost. I've also been able to recharge the card for 3€ per day (this was before the VAT increase) but be sure to carry the number of the micro sim (it's not on it) with you otherwise you'll need a new one (I found this out the hard way).

Many thanks. It seems there are as many price variations as there are Orange outlets! Any ideas as to how I can check the amount of data remaining on the 1 gb monthly allowance? I didn't have any problems with this during the last month but I wa quite careful with usage and wonder if I was too careful..

The micro sim card I purchased was for unlimited usage for 1 month. There was no data restrictions.

Thanks Cathy, when I purchased mine the sales assistant kept referring to IGb, maybe that referred to the speed rather than the limit.???