Spain Ends Free Calls to Venezuela

Spanish telecom operators Telefónica, MasOrange and Vodafone Spain announced that the emergency free‑call and free‑SMS service to Venezuela will end on 1 August. The measures, introduced after the deadly earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela in July, allowed callers from Spain to reach relatives in Venezuela without charge.

From 1 August onward, all calls and text messages sent from Spain to Venezuela will be billed at regular rates, with usage appearing on the September billing cycle. MasOrange had offered the service for only fifteen days after activating it on 25 June, while Vodafone Spain has already terminated its free‑call period. Telefónica will be the last of the three major Spanish operators to end the programme.

The emergency service was a response to the twin quakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, which caused at least 5,546 deaths, 16,740 injuries and left nearly 18,000 people homeless in Venezuela.