Care for specific conditions

It is for anyone considering, planning or carrying out a move to Spain. Find your condition and you will see how care works here and what to arrange first.

Start with "Continuing diabetes care in Spain". It shows the pattern most conditions follow: find the specialist, set up regular monitoring and secure your medicines. Then go to the page for your own condition.

Mental health care, children's conditions, prescription renewals and vaccination schedules are not covered here.

Key rules

• Dialysis place: A dialysis place is often arranged within days to a few weeks, and sooner if it is clinically urgent, but delays in health card entitlement can postpone it.
• Referral: Your family doctor must refer you to hospital endocrinology; only emergencies skip this step.
• CGM funding: Each region sets its own CGM criteria, so check your destination region before you commit to a place.
• Health card first: Without recognised entitlement and a family doctor, the hospital oncology service cannot take you, so start there.
• Waiting times: No national law sets a maximum wait for cancer care; any guarantee depends on your region.
• Family doctor: Your family doctor is the route to cardiology, INR monitoring and repeat prescriptions.

Care for specific conditions: the whole process, step by step

• Get your health entitlement and health card (tarjeta sanitaria), the first step for every condition: before any publicly funded care: get a Social Security number, register on the padrón, then apply for entitlement

• Ask your family doctor for a referral to the hospital specialist for your condition: once your health centre has assigned you a family doctor; waits run from weeks to several months by region and specialty

• Bring your medical records, medication list and translations of key summaries to the first visit: before your first specialist appointment

• Dialysis: ask your family doctor or hospital nephrologist to refer you so the hospital can assign a place: a place is often arranged within days to a few weeks, and sooner if clinically urgent

• Cancer: ask about your region's fast-track diagnosis circuit: some regions aim for about 15 days from suspicion to a first specialist visit, or 30 days for diagnosis

• Biologic drugs: book a first specialist visit and bring a supply from abroad to bridge the gap: hospital pharmacy start often takes weeks

• Diabetes: start routine follow-up with HbA1c checks and annual kidney, eye and foot checks: HbA1c every 3 to 6 months; other checks once a year

• Transplant: attend the transplant unit's clinic and blood tests, with immunosuppressants from the hospital pharmacy: frequent visits in the first months, then every few months, eventually every 6 to 12 months

• Severe allergy: get an adrenaline auto-injector prescribed and renew it: renew every 12 to 18 months when it expires, or after use

Documents you may need

Identity and residence

• Passport — Moving to Spain mid-treatment for cancer, Continuing dialysis, kidney and transplant care in Spain
• Padrón certificate from your town hall — Moving to Spain mid-treatment for cancer, Continuing dialysis, kidney and transplant care in Spain

Other documents

• Recent clinical summary or discharge report from your treating specialist — Moving to Spain mid-treatment for cancer, Continuing dialysis, kidney and transplant care in Spain
• Current medication list with generic drug names and doses — Moving to Spain mid-treatment for cancer, Continuing dialysis, kidney and transplant care in Spain
• S1 or other proof of entitlement — Moving to Spain mid-treatment for cancer, Continuing dialysis, kidney and transplant care in Spain
• Full report from your foreign transplant centre — Continuing dialysis, kidney and transplant care in Spain
• Disability certificate — Continuing epilepsy, MS and Parkinson's care in Spain
• Dependency assessment resolution under the dependency law — Continuing epilepsy, MS and Parkinson's care in Spain

Care for specific conditions: questions that cross several articles

Do I need a health card before I can see a specialist?

Yes, you need recognised entitlement and a health card before you can use publicly funded specialist care. Usually you get a Social Security number, register on the padrón, then apply to the regional health service. Your family doctor is then assigned and refers you; read the article for your condition next.

Can I go straight to a hospital specialist without seeing a family doctor?

No, in most cases you need a referral from your family doctor to reach a hospital specialist in the public system. Direct access is limited to emergencies and, in some regions, gynaecology or ophthalmology. Once a specialist follows you, they book your review visits.

Which records should I bring to my first appointment in Spain?

Bring a recent clinical summary, a medication list with generic names and doses, recent lab results, imaging with reports and any device settings. English reports are usually accepted, but a Spanish translation of key summaries speeds things up. Keep the originals.

Will my insulin pump or glucose sensor be funded in Spain?

Funding depends on your region and hospital. Pumps are mainly for type 1 diabetes when injections have not achieved control, and you may need to use a model from the regional contract. Sensor criteria differ by region, so ask the hospital endocrinology unit; see Continuing diabetes care in Spain.