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Estimating groundwater recharge is essential to ensure the sustainable use of groundwater resources, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Soil water balances have been frequently advocated as valuable tools to estimate groundwater recharge. This article compares the performance of three soil water balance models (Hydrobal, Visual Balan v2.0 and Thornthwaite) in the Ventós-Castellar aquifer, Spain. The models were used to simulate wet and dry years. Recharge estimates were transformed into water table fluctuations by means of a lumped groundwater model. These, in turn, were calibrated against piezometric data. Overall, the Hydrobal model shows the best fit between observed and calculated levels (r2 = 0.84), highlighting the role of soil moisture and vegetation in recharge processes. This research was partially funded by UNESCO [Project IGCP-513]; the European Commission [PRACTICE Project]; the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain [ECOBAL project, CGL2011-30531-C02-01; SURVIVE project CGL 2011-30531-C02-02]; the Consolider program INGENIO 2010 [GRACCIE Project, CSD2007-00067], the Generalitat Valenciana [FEEDBACKSPROMETEO; ACOMP/2010/272 and GV07/143] and the MAEC-AECID Scholarships from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.