Going to Spain: Your mobile data suggestions?

I’m going to Spain this week for a stag weekend. We — well, they — are going running with the bulls in Pamplona.

I’m going along, however I have a compelling need to stay alive, not least to continue to blog, thus I am not actually running the 800 odd metres. Instead I shall be watching and recording the bloody gore with a range of mobile related technology. (Incidentally if you’ve a suggestion about hardware I should take to do so, let me know.)

I am certainly going to do some video blogs — live..ish — from the scene.

My critical issue is mobile data. I, unlike the rest of the troupe attending the stag weekend, have multiple business elements to continue running before, during and after the bull goring. My E61i, the HTC Touch and the 3UK Nokia N73 will almost certainly be perfectly capable of dealing with my immediate requirements.

However at some regular points, throughout the days, I need to obtain internet access on my Apple Laptop.

I didn’t manage to influence the flea-pit-hotel choice, although for the last two days over Sunday and Monday, I’ve booked into a decent small luxury hotel which conveniently has wireless internet. Nice.

What to do about Thursday, Friday and Saturday? Again, the E61i will manage most of my immediate email requirements. But for stuff I need to do on the laptop, I really do need a mobile data connection.

Ideally I’d like to avoid another grand’s worth of Vodafone international spend on a few hundred megs of data like last year.

I had a look at this site here — Spanish Sim — which looks like a pretty comprehensive mobile data service.

Check this page out — they will sell me a Vodafone Mini USB ADSL modem kit (pay as you go) for 199 EURO. What do you think?

D’ya reckon I’d be better off trying to get hold of a Vodafone USB modem from the UK and then hunting around trying to get hold of a Vodafone Spain data card? From memory I don’t think you can buy the modem on pay as you go here in the UK. Although I shall check at the Vodafone store later today.

Further, if I buy a Spanish Vodafone Mini USB modem, can I put a UK sim it when I get back to the UK? Probably.

What do you reckon is the right strategy? If you’ve got one of those USB modems hanging around and want to sell or rent it to me, I’m interested.

Thoughts?