How to install a tourist eSIM in Spain (iPhone and Android)

Connect to Wi-Fi, open A1's QR code email on a second screen and scan it from Settings: Cellular > Add eSIM on iPhone, Connections > SIM manager > Add eSIM on Samsung, or Network & internet > SIMs > Add SIM on Pixel. Then set the eSIM as your mobile data line and keep your home number for calls.

You order in the A1 tourist SIM and eSIM shop, upload a photo of your ID and pay. Spanish law (Ley 25/2007) requires ID for every prepaid line, so A1 accepts a passport, a national ID card from any country, a DNI or an NIE. A1's team checks the document by hand during online order hours (Monday–Saturday 10:45–21:00, Sunday 10:45–13:30, Tenerife time) and then emails you the eSIM QR code.

Before you scan it, have ready:

• An eSIM phone that is carrier-unlocked. Not sure? Run the 30-second check in does my phone support eSIM?
• A Wi-Fi connection. Apple asks for Wi-Fi or a hotspot during eSIM set-up, and Samsung asks for Wi-Fi or mobile data.
• The QR code on another screen, such as a laptop, a tablet, a travel companion's phone or a printout, unless you use the one-phone method below.

These steps follow Apple's iPhone User Guide for iOS 26 and iOS 27. UK-English iPhones say Mobile Service where US ones say Cellular, and Mobile Plan where they say Cellular Plan.

1. Connect to Wi-Fi.
2. Open Settings > Cellular and tap Add eSIM or Set Up Cellular.
3. Tap Use QR Code (you may need to tap Other Options first) and point the camera at A1's QR code.
4. Follow the prompts, such as Continue and Add Cellular Plan. If the iPhone asks for a confirmation code you don't have, stop and message A1.
5. Label your plans when asked: pick or type names such as "Home" and "A1 Tenerife". The labels appear in Phone, Messages and Contacts.
6. Choose your home number as the default line for calls and messages and for iMessage and FaceTime, and choose the A1 line for cellular data.
7. Check Settings > Cellular: the new line, listed below eSIMs, should be turned on.

You can also scan the code with the Camera app and tap the Cellular Plan Detected notification. To rename a line later, go to Settings > Cellular, tap the number and choose Cellular Plan Label.

Samsung Galaxy

These are the menu names in Samsung's current eSIM guides. Older Galaxy software says SIM card manager > Add mobile plan > Add using QR code instead.

1. Connect to Wi-Fi.
2. Open Settings > Connections > SIM manager.
3. Tap Add eSIM, then Scan QR code (on some models, Scan QR code from service provider).
4. Scan A1's QR code and wait while the eSIM downloads and activates.
5. Back in SIM manager, under Preferred SIMs, set Mobile data to the A1 eSIM and leave Calls and Messages on your home SIM.

Google Pixel

Google notes that some of these steps only work on Android 11 and later.

1. Connect to Wi-Fi.
2. Open Settings > Network & internet > SIMs, tap Add SIM, then Set up an eSIM.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions and scan A1's QR code when asked.
4. When the phone asks you to set your SIM preferences, tap Get started and work through the screens.
5. To change them later, open Settings > Network & internet > SIMs and, under Your primary SIMs, pick the SIM for Calls, Texts and Mobile data. Only one SIM can be the default for data.

Yes, in two ways:

• iPhone with iOS 17.4 or later: open A1's email in your default email app (or the QR code in a browser), tap and hold the QR code, then tap Add eSIM and follow the prompts. Apple documents this for QR codes received in the default email app or a browser.
• Any phone: show the QR code on another screen, such as a laptop, a tablet or a friend's phone, or print it, and scan it with the phone you are setting up.

iPhone (Enter Details Manually) and Samsung (Enter activation code) also have a manual-entry option, for when a provider sends the eSIM details as text instead of a QR code. If you only have one device and no other way to show the code, message A1 on WhatsApp at 641 780 077 before you try anything else.

Your phone uses only one line for mobile data at a time, so split the jobs:

• Mobile data: the A1 eSIM. On iPhone, go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data and tap the A1 line. Personal Hotspot shares whichever line is selected for data.
• Calls and texts: your home line as the default, so people still reach you on your usual number. Your home network may charge roaming for calls on that line, so check with it before you travel.
• iMessage and FaceTime: your home number. Apple says they keep working on your home line while a travel eSIM handles data.
• WhatsApp: nothing to change. WhatsApp says you can keep using your home number on a local SIM, but re-verifying the account needs your home SIM in the phone with calls or SMS working, so leave it switched on.

On iPhone, Allow Cellular Data Switching lets the phone use data from both plans depending on coverage. Leave it off if you want all your data to go through the A1 line. The trade-off, according to Apple: with it off, mobile data doesn't work while you are on a call on the home line.

Off is fine while you are in Spain. Apple and Google describe Data Roaming the same way: it lets the phone use other networks when you are outside your own carrier's coverage. A1's tourist plans are Spanish prepaid plans on the Orange network, so in Spain, Tenerife included, the A1 line is on home ground and doesn't roam.

Turn Data Roaming on for the A1 line when you take it to another EU country. Each plan includes an EU roaming allowance: 18 GB on Tourist 100, 32 GB on Tourist 250 and 35 GB on Tourist 300. More on this in our guide to mobile roaming in the Canary Islands.

• iPhone: Settings > Cellular > tap the A1 line > Cellular Data Options > Data Roaming.
• Samsung Galaxy: Settings > Connections > Mobile networks > Data roaming.
• Google Pixel: Settings > Network & internet > SIMs, choose the A1 line, then Roaming.

Your home line is the opposite case. Apple's advice for travellers is to turn off Data Roaming to avoid roaming charges, so switch it off on the home line. App-based travel eSIMs are different again: Apple notes that with an international data plan you may need to keep Data Roaming on.

Apple's checks for a stuck activation are the same: toggle Airplane Mode, turn the line off and on, restart, then contact the carrier with the error message and your EID, which is under Settings > General > About.

No. Apple advises against erasing an eSIM as a troubleshooting step unless your carrier tells you to, and says that once an eSIM is erased you need to contact the carrier to get a new one. In other words, the QR code email is not a backup copy of the line, so don't count on scanning it twice.

Safer habits:

• Pause instead of delete. Turn the line off (Turn On This Line on iPhone, Use SIM on Pixel, the switch in Samsung's SIM manager) and turn it back on later.
• Protect it on a Pixel. Turn on Settings > Security > Advanced > Confirm SIM deletion, so an eSIM can't be erased without your password.
• When you get home, make sure your home line is turned on and set back as your data line, then turn off the A1 line, as Apple suggests for travel eSIMs you no longer use.

Stuck at any step? Message A1 on WhatsApp at 641 780 077 or visit the shop at Local 4, Centro Comercial San Eugenio, Costa Adeje (Monday–Saturday 10:45–21:30, Sunday 10:45–14:00). The staff speak English and Spanish. For local plan details, see eSIM in Tenerife.