Planning a move with a condition

It is for anyone thinking about, planning or carrying out a move to Spain. You will know when to move, how to avoid gaps in your treatment, and how to prepare an emergency information pack.

Start with "How to plan a move to Spain around an ongoing condition". It walks you through the whole sequence, from preparation to your first Spanish appointments. After that, go to whichever page matches your question: timing around a treatment phase, the first weeks before Spanish cover starts, seeing your home specialist by video, ending home cover, or going home for treatment.

Key rules

• Home GP registration: Leave your home doctor registration until the move is permanent and Spanish cover or private insurance is arranged.
• Records request: Request your medical records two to three months before you leave, and at least six to eight weeks before.
• Specialist referral: In the public system your family doctor must refer you to a specialist, and a private specialist cannot refer you into the public queue.
• Emergency number: The emergency number in Spain is 112, free from any phone.
• Order: Do residence, padrón, entitlement, health card and family doctor in that order, because each needs the one before.
• Gap: Keep home cover or private insurance running until Spanish cover starts.

Planning a move with a condition: the whole process, step by step

From planning to your first specialist visit

• Ask your treating specialist whether this is a safe phase to move, and agree a handover plan (see: Is now the right time to move? Timing around your treatment): Before you commit to a date. Moving between treatment cycles or in a stable phase is usually safer than around chemotherapy, major surgery, a medication change or late pregnancy

• Request your medical records, medicine list, test results and vaccination history (see: How to plan a move to Spain around an ongoing condition): Two to three months before you leave, and at least six to eight weeks before

• Keep your home doctor registration and cover running (see: When to end home-country health cover and doctor registration): Until the move is permanent and Spanish cover or private insurance is arranged

• Arrange a bridge for the first weeks if you have no immediate Spanish cover (see: Keeping care going in your first weeks before Spanish cover starts): Before you arrive. Employees and self-employed people are covered once registered with Social Security; non-working residents usually need private insurance

• Register your address at the town hall, then with Social Security, then with the regional health service: After you arrive. Each step depends on the one before; the whole path from arrival commonly takes one to three months

• Receive your health card (tarjeta sanitaria) and family doctor: Often within days to a few weeks once entitlement and address are in place; in Madrid and Catalonia it can take two to six weeks including the posted card

• Book your first family doctor appointment and bring your foreign reports: Typically a few days to two weeks after the card is issued; longer where doctors are scarce

• Get a referral to a specialist from your family doctor (see: How public, private or mixed care affects continuity of your treatment): At the first appointment. Expect a first specialist wait of around two months or more, and around three to four months for non-urgent surgery, depending on region and specialty

• End your home doctor registration and home cover (see: When to end home-country health cover and doctor registration): Once Spanish cover or private insurance is active

Timings vary by region and health centre, so check current waits with your regional health service.

Documents you may need

Identity and residence

• Proof of legal residence — How to plan a move to Spain around an ongoing condition
• Padrón certificate from your town hall — How to plan a move to Spain around an ongoing condition
• Padrón registration — Keeping care going in your first weeks before Spanish cover starts
• A prescription from your EU or EEA prescriber showing your identity — Can you keep seeing your home-country specialist from Spain?
• Identity details page — Your emergency medical information pack for Spain

The home and the lease

• Rental contract or property deed — How to plan a move to Spain around an ongoing condition

Payments and receipts

• A private health insurance policy with no co-payments and no waiting periods — Keeping care going in your first weeks before Spanish cover starts

Other documents

• Proof of entitlement to public healthcare — How to plan a move to Spain around an ongoing condition, Keeping care going in your first weeks before Spanish cover starts
• Social Security number — How to plan a move to Spain around an ongoing condition
• A copy of your public health record — How public, private or mixed care affects continuity of your treatment

Each article lists the other documents it asks for, where you need them.

Planning a move with a condition: questions that cross several articles

How long until I can see a Spanish doctor after I arrive?

Allow roughly one to three months from arrival to an active health card, then a few days to two weeks for a first family doctor appointment. Delays mostly come from residence paperwork, the Social Security number or address registration. Read Keeping care going in your first weeks before Spanish cover starts for how to cover the gap.

Which new arrivals have a real gap in health cover?

Non-working residents such as non-lucrative visa holders, and early retirees without an S1 form, face a real gap and must buy private insurance. Employees and self-employed people are covered once registered with Social Security, and S1 holders once the S1 is registered. Read Keeping care going in your first weeks before Spanish cover starts and How public, private or mixed care affects continuity of your treatment.

Can I go straight to a specialist with my home diagnosis?

No, in the public system you need a referral from your family doctor, and your foreign reports are reviewed at that first appointment. The doctor may repeat tests, and the specialist may re-evaluate your diagnosis. Read How public, private or mixed care affects continuity of your treatment and How to plan a move to Spain around an ongoing condition.

How long will I wait for a public specialist or surgery?

A first specialist visit has averaged around two months or more, and non-urgent surgery around three to four months, with wide differences by region and specialty. Waits tend to be shorter in the Basque Country, Madrid and Navarra. Read Is now the right time to move? Timing around your treatment and Can you keep seeing your home-country specialist from Spain? to plan for the wait.