Healthcare and insurance
Public and private care, health cover, and insurance for your life in Spain.
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The essential topics in healthcare and insurance, one from each section where there is one. Read these first.
Public healthcare access
Finding your public healthcare route
You will know which route applies to your situation and what, if anything, you have to do to start it.
Private health insurance
Public, private or both
You will be able to decide whether private cover is needed or worth paying for in your situation.
Costs, prescriptions, and medicines
Prescription copayments (copago) and prices
You will be able to predict what a prescription will cost you, check you are charged the right percentage, and know when nothing is subsidised.
Chronic care and continuity
Planning a move with a condition
You will know when to move, what to arrange before leaving, how to keep care running until Spanish cover and a Spanish doctor are in place, and what to carry in an emergency.
Emergency, dental, vision, and mental healthcare
Getting emergency care (urgencias)
You will know where to go, what will happen when you get there and what to do afterwards, even without fluent Spanish.
Family health and vulnerable situations
Setting up family healthcare
You will know who to register and see first, what is free, how your region changes things and how Spanish family healthcare works in practice.
Public healthcare access
Helps you get and keep access to public healthcare.
Get into Spain's public health system and stay in it: which entitlement route applies, registering for the health card, using GP and referrals, patient rights, regional differences and keeping cover through changes.
Finding your public healthcare route
You will know which route applies to your situation and what, if anything, you have to do to start it.
Which route gives you public healthcare in Spain? · Public healthcare when you work or are self-employed (autónomo) · Your employer has not registered you for social security: are you covered?
EU, UK and S1 healthcare rights
You will know whether your home state or Spain pays for your care, which card or form to use and when the temporary card stops working.
Does being an EU citizen change your healthcare route in Spain? · Form S1: how a foreign state pension can pay for Spanish healthcare · Posted to Spain or working across a border: where are you covered?
Paid public cover (convenio especial)
You will know whether you can buy into public healthcare, what it costs, and how to apply and keep it.
No automatic public route? Paying into Spanish healthcare (convenio especial) · Two different things called convenio especial: which one do you need? · Applying for the paid agreement (convenio especial) and its monthly cost
Care without full residency status
You will know what care is guaranteed, which documents regions ask for and what a visitor may be billed.
Healthcare without a residence permit in Spain: what you can get · Asylum seekers and temporary protection: how healthcare access works · Visiting from outside the EU: what if you need a Spanish hospital?
Getting your health card (tarjeta sanitaria)
You will know the order of steps from before the move through your first weeks, what to bring and what to do when the card is late or stops working.
What to arrange before you move so you are not uncovered · Setting up your healthcare in your first weeks in Spain · Getting recognised as entitled: the INSS step before the card
Your GP and everyday public care
You will know who your GP is, how to book and change them, and what to expect in a consultation.
How you get a family doctor and health centre (centro de salud) · Can you change your assigned doctor or health centre? · Booking a GP appointment (cita previa): phone, app and online
Specialists, waiting lists and what's covered
You will understand referrals, realistic waits, what is included or limited and what costs remain.
How referrals to specialists and hospitals work in Spain · How long are public healthcare waits (listas de espera) in Spain, really? · How good is Spanish public healthcare, and what is under strain?
Patient rights and complaints
You will know what you can demand, how to see your records and how to escalate a problem.
Your rights as a patient in Spain · Consent forms, refusing treatment and asking for a second opinion · Getting your medical records and using the digital health folder
Regional differences in public healthcare
You will understand what really differs by region, how to find your local rule and how to move your cover.
How Spain's regional health systems differ · Should healthcare access affect which region you choose? · How to find your own region's healthcare rules and forms
Keeping or ending cover through changes
You will know how to stay covered or transition cleanly at each life change.
Losing your job in Spain: what happens to your healthcare · Stopping or falling behind as self-employed (autónomo): effect on healthcare · Separation, divorce or a partner's death: keeping your healthcare
Private health insurance
Helps you choose and use suitable private health insurance.
Choose and manage private health insurance: when it is required or worth it, visa-compliant policies, how policies work, exclusions, buying, premiums, claims and switching.
Public, private or both
You will be able to decide whether private cover is needed or worth paying for in your situation.
Public, private or both: which cover fits you in Spain? · Paying for public cover (convenio especial) and private insurance together · What private health insurance adds to the public system
Visa-compliant health insurance
You will be able to buy a policy that your consulate or immigration office will accept and keep it compliant.
Which Spanish residence routes require private health insurance? · What a visa-compliant Spanish health policy must include · Getting the insurance proof your visa application needs
Cover for your situation
You will find the cover approach that fits your age, visa type and household.
Health insurance for retirees and non-lucrative visa holders · Buying health insurance in Spain after 60 · Health insurance for digital nomads and remote workers
How policies and networks work
You will understand a policy's structure well enough to judge it before buying.
Provider network (cuadro médico) or reimbursement (reembolso) policy: which type? · How provider networks and hospital access work · What a full-coverage Spanish health policy actually includes
Exclusions, waiting periods and pre-existing conditions
You will know what your policy will not pay for, when you can use it, and how to disclose your health history safely.
What Spanish health policies exclude, including dental and optical add-ons · Waiting periods (carencias) on a new health policy · How the health questionnaire and pre-existing conditions work
Choosing and buying a policy
You will be able to compare quotes, avoid unauthorised products and complete a purchase.
Who sells private health insurance in Spain and how they differ · How to compare health insurance quotes in Spain · International expat plan or Spanish policy: which to buy?
Premiums, payments and tax
You will understand what drives your premium, how to pay it, and the tax treatment.
How much private health insurance costs in Spain and why · Copayment (copago) or no copayment: which plan costs less? · How premiums rise with age and at each renewal
Using your policy
You will know how to get appointments, authorisations and the right doctor.
Setting up and using a new health policy in Spain · Booking specialists, tests and hospital care under a policy · Prior authorisation (autorización previa) and how it works
Claims, refusals and complaints
You will know how to claim and what to do when the insurer says no.
How to claim reimbursement from your health insurer · Claims for out-of-network or foreign treatment · What to do when your insurer refuses an authorisation
Switching and cancelling a policy
You will change or end a policy without losing protection.
How to switch health insurers without losing cover · Why your first Spanish insurer is hard to leave · Cancelling a health policy: notice, renewal and refunds
Costs, prescriptions, and medicines
Helps you manage prescriptions, medicines and health costs.
Plan what healthcare and medicines cost and keep prescriptions flowing: copayments, prescriptions, pharmacies, bringing medicines, specialist medicines and paying out of pocket.
Prescription copayments (copago) and prices
You will be able to predict what a prescription will cost you, check you are charged the right percentage, and know when nothing is subsidised.
How the prescription copayment (copago) works · Which copayment tier you start in as a new resident · Prescription costs for retirees, pensioners and S1 holders
Getting and renewing prescriptions
You will know how to get a valid Spanish prescription, keep it renewed and avoid a gap in your treatment.
How Spanish electronic prescriptions (receta electrónica) work · Reading a Spanish prescription and hospital discharge report · Getting your first Spanish prescription after arriving
Using Spanish pharmacies day to day
You will be able to walk into a Spanish pharmacy, get what you need at any hour and handle shortages calmly.
How Spanish pharmacies (farmacias) actually work · Finding a pharmacy on duty (farmacia de guardia) at night · Which medicines you can buy without a prescription in Spain
Bringing and matching your medicines
You will arrive with a legal, documented supply and know how to find the Spanish equivalent of every medicine you take.
Rules and limits for bringing prescription medicines into Spain · Bringing narcotic or psychotropic medicines and Schengen certificates · Finding the Spanish equivalent of your home medicine
Hospital and specialist medicines
You will understand how specialist medicines reach you in Spain and what stands between you and your treatment.
How hospital-dispensed medicines (dispensación hospitalaria) work · What you pay for hospital-dispensed medicines · Starting an expensive specialist drug in Spain
Paying for private care out of pocket
You will know what to expect on a private bill, how to pay sensibly and when paying out of pocket makes sense.
What is free in Spain's public system and what you still pay · What private GP visits, specialists and tests cost in Spain · How paying for private care works (quotes and invoices)
Your annual health budget
You will leave with a realistic yearly health budget for your household and cover route.
How much to budget for healthcare and medicines each year in Spain · Health budget for retirees and long-term conditions · Paying out of pocket while waiting for your health card
Chronic care and continuity
Helps you keep treatment for a chronic condition going through the move.
Move ongoing treatment to Spain without unsafe gaps: planning the move around a condition, records, handover to specialists, condition-specific pathways and equipment.
Planning a move with a condition
You will know when to move, what to arrange before leaving, how to keep care running until Spanish cover and a Spanish doctor are in place, and what to carry in an emergency.
How to plan a move to Spain around an ongoing condition · Is now the right time to move? Timing around your treatment · Keeping care going in your first weeks before Spanish cover starts
Moving your medical records
You will know exactly which records to ask for, in what format, how to translate them and how to reach your Spanish record later.
The clinical summary your Spanish doctors will want · How to request your records from home-country providers · Moving scans, lab results and biopsy slides to Spain
Handover to Spanish specialists
You will know how to get your existing condition accepted, referred and followed in Spain, and how to coordinate several conditions or help someone else.
Handing over from your home specialist to a Spanish one · Getting referred to a specialist for a condition you already have · Will Spanish doctors accept your foreign diagnosis and treatment plan?
Waits, second opinions and treatment gaps
You will know your real options when the Spanish system is slow or disagrees with your existing treatment.
What the national waiting-time guarantee actually promises · Paying privately for a diagnosis while staying on the public list · Does your place in line survive a move to another region?
Care for specific conditions
You will find the Spanish pathway for your condition and what to arrange first.
Continuing diabetes care in Spain · Continuing heart, blood pressure and anticoagulant care in Spain · Continuing asthma and COPD care in Spain
Medical equipment and devices
You will know whether your device works in Spain and how to get, replace and pay for equipment.
Can you bring your medical device to Spain and will it work? · Travelling and shipping to Spain with medical equipment · Getting and replacing equipment and supplies in Spain
Emergency, dental, vision, and mental healthcare
Helps you get emergency, dental, eye and mental health care.
Use the parts of care that work differently from routine primary care: medical emergencies, dentistry, eye care and mental health.
Getting emergency care (urgencias)
You will know where to go, what will happen when you get there and what to do afterwards, even without fluent Spanish.
Emergency room (urgencias) or health centre (centro de salud)? · What happens at a Spanish emergency room (urgencias), step by step · Calling and riding in an ambulance (ambulancia) in Spain
Paying for emergency care
You will know whether an emergency will cost you, who will bill you and how to handle it.
Do you pay for public emergency room (urgencias) care? · Emergency care before your health card or residence is sorted · Using private health insurance in an emergency
Everyday dental care
You will know what is free, where to go for urgent pain and how to find a good dentist.
What public healthcare covers for adult teeth and gums · Where to go for a dental emergency (urgencia dental) · Finding and choosing a dentist (dentista) you can trust
Dental costs and major work
You will be able to judge a price, question a quote and plan large dental work safely.
What common dental treatments cost in Spain · How to read a dental quote (presupuesto) and get a second opinion · Are dental insurance (seguro dental) and clinic discount plans worth it?
Eye care and glasses
You will know where to go for each eye problem and what glasses and treatment cost.
Public eye care from GP referral to ophthalmologist (oftalmólogo) · Getting an eye test at an optician (óptica) · What glasses and contact lenses cost in Spain and what helps
Getting mental health care
You will know which route to take, what it costs and how to find a therapist who works in your language.
Getting therapy through the public system, the referral route · When the public wait for a psychologist is too long · Finding and checking a private psychologist (psicólogo) or psychiatrist
Specialist and acute mental health care
You will know how acute and specialist mental health care works in Spain and where to turn.
Psychiatric emergencies and involuntary admission (ingreso involuntario) · Antidepressants, anxiety medicine and other psychiatric drugs in Spain · Getting an adult ADHD or autism assessment in Spain
Family health and vulnerable situations
Helps you set up healthcare for children, pregnancy and family members.
Set up healthcare for family members at particular life stages: children and teens, vaccinations, pregnancy and birth, reproductive health and preventive care.
Setting up family healthcare
You will know who to register and see first, what is free, how your region changes things and how Spanish family healthcare works in practice.
Setting up healthcare for your whole family, step by step · Public care or private cover for each family stage · What family healthcare is free in Spain and what you pay for
Children's and teen healthcare
You will know who your child sees, what routine care to expect at each age and what to do when they are ill.
Getting a pediatrician (pediatra) for your child · Routine child health check-ups (revisiones del niño sano) by age · When your child moves from pediatrician (pediatra) to family doctor
Child and teen vaccinations
You will know which vaccines your child needs at each age, how to catch up and how to prove it.
Spain's childhood vaccine schedule by age · Catching up on vaccines your child had abroad · Which child vaccines are free and which you pay for
Pregnancy care
You will know who looks after your pregnancy, what tests to expect and how to get care even before your card is sorted.
Moving to Spain while pregnant: timing and continuity of care · Starting pregnancy care with a midwife (matrona) · Getting pregnancy care before your health card or status is sorted
Birth and newborn care
You will know where and how birth works, what happens to your baby in the first days and what care you get afterwards.
Choosing where to give birth in Spain · Giving birth in a Spanish hospital: what to expect · What having a baby in Spain costs, public and private
Reproductive and sexual health
You will know where to go for contraception, abortion, testing, gynecology and fertility care and what is funded.
Getting contraception in Spain: methods, access and cost · Emergency contraception (píldora del día después) in Spain · Abortion (interrupción voluntaria del embarazo) in Spain: access and rules
Adult preventive health
You will know which checks, screenings and vaccines adults should get and how to get invited.
How Spain approaches adult preventive care · Getting a baseline health check when you arrive in Spain · Cancer screening in Spain: breast, cervical and colorectal
Home, life, and other insurance
Helps you choose and use home, life and other non-health insurance.
Choose and use the insurance a household needs besides health cover: which policies are compulsory or worth having, home and contents, civil liability, life and mortgage-linked, funeral and travel cover, claims and…
Insurance needs and buying
You will know which policies matter for your situation, which are required by law or by a lender, and how to buy and compare them without a perfect paper trail.
Which insurance policies a newcomer household needs in Spain · Which insurance is compulsory in Spain and which is optional · Which insurance fits you as a tenant, owner, family or retiree
Home and contents insurance
You will know what policy a tenant or owner should hold, how much cover to set, and how second homes, rentals and moves change the answer.
Do you need home insurance (seguro de hogar) as a tenant? · Who insures what between landlord, tenant and community (comunidad) · What the building's community insurance covers and special charges (derramas)
Liability and activity cover
You will know what happens financially if you injure someone or damage their property, and whether your hobbies need extra cover.
What civil liability cover (responsabilidad civil) in your policy does · How much liability cover is enough and what it will not pay · If your child damages property or injures someone
Life and income protection
You will know whether you need life or income cover, how mortgage-linked policies work, how much to buy, and how a claim works.
Do you need life insurance (seguro de vida) in Spain? · Life insurance tied to your mortgage and outside alternatives · How much life cover your family needs and naming beneficiaries
Funeral insurance (decesos)
You will understand a distinctly Spanish product, its long-term cost and whether it fits a foreign household.
What funeral insurance (seguro de decesos) is and who buys it · Why funeral insurance premiums rise and how to switch or cancel · Will funeral insurance pay to repatriate remains to your home country?
Travel insurance
You will know what travel cover a Spanish resident needs, which exclusions bite, and how to claim.
Travel insurance for residents and what your EHIC covers · Does your travel insurance still work when you live in Spain? · Insurance for relatives visiting you in Spain
Claims, renewals and cancelling
You will know how to make a claim, challenge a bad outcome, and manage renewals and cancellations without losing cover or money.
How a home insurance claim (siniestro) works from report to payout · Water leak between neighbours: how the claim works · Making a burglary claim on your home policy
Natural disaster cover and state insurer (Consorcio)
You will understand which disasters are covered by your insurer or the Consorcio and how to claim after a catastrophe.
What the state insurer (Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros) covers · Does your insurer or the state fund pay for storm or flood? · How claims to the state disaster fund (Consorcio) are decided and paid
Related subjects
Questions in healthcare and insurance usually lead into these.
Moving, documents, and setup
Paperwork, identity numbers, belongings, pets, utilities and the first weeks.
Family, children, and education
Partners, children, schools, childcare and studying in Spain.
Safety, rights, and support
Scams, disputes, emergencies, your rights and where to get help.
Need certainty before you act?
For important relocation decisions, speak with a qualified human specialist.
Always verify important information with the relevant official authority or a qualified adviser before acting. This website uses large language models together with various public data sources, official government documents and other established sources. Due to the amount of data on this website, some information might be wrong. Information may also be incomplete or outdated.