The most important emergency number in Bulgaria and in Europe is 112.
If you dial 112, you will be connected to the emergency control center. You can call this number using a foreign SIM card or a prepaid mobile phone card with no credit.
112 reaches out to medical, fire, and police in case of a life-threatening situation, such as serious medical problems, crime, or fire – anywhere in Europe. One hundred twelve (112) can be called from any landline or cellular phone. In Bulgaria, dial 166 for the police, 150 for the ambulance, and 160 for the fire rescue. Additional emergency phone numbers in Bulgaria are:
- Bulgarian Black Sea Search & Rescue (BULSAR): 161
- Car Breakdown Service: 112
- Emergency Road Assistance: 146
- Human Trafficking Resource Line: 0800 20 100
- Pharmacy on duty information: 178
- Traffic police: 165
- Drugsinfo: 0888 99 18 66
How to call Bulgarian cell phone from U.S. and European cell phones while in Bulgaria?
To call a Bulgarian land phone from a European cell phone in Bulgaria, you can dial the local phone number, including the area code, without any additional prefixes or exit codes. For example, if you try to call a Bulgarian phone number, “123 456”, with area code “32”, you need to dial “+ 359 32 123 456”, where “+359” is Bulgaria’s country code.
Calling a Bulgarian cell phone from a European cell phone while visiting Bulgaria
If you are calling from a country within the European Union, you may be able to use the “Short Number” format to make calls within Bulgaria. This involves dialing the local cell phone number without the leading 0: 888 123 456. However, this option may not be available with all European cell phone providers and countries and may not work for all carriers. For instance, Swisscom users must dial + 359 888 123 456 if they are to call this number in Bulgaria.
