How to choose a good care home (residencia) in Spain

Key rules

• Registration: A care home must display its registration number, and you can ask your region to confirm its licence.
• Staff schedule: Staffing and medical hours vary by region and home, so always ask for the written staff schedule.
• Visits: Visit at different times, including a mealtime and a weekend, and ask to see every area.
• Public places: Prices, co-payments and waiting times for public places are set by each region.

Start with the licence

Only consider homes that are officially registered. Every region keeps its own register of social service centres. It holds the home's authorisation and its capacity. A home must display its registration number, so ask for it and look for it on site.

Then confirm it yourself. Ask the regional social services department (consejería) to check the licence. Ask for the latest inspection reports and any sanctions. You can request them through the regional inspection service or with a transparency request. Serious sanctions are often published in the regional official gazette.

If a home hesitates to give you its number or its reports, treat that as a warning sign.

Check staffing and medical cover

Each region sets its own staffing rules, and homes differ. So ask each home for its staff schedule. Ask how many nurses and care assistants (gerocultores) work on each shift, including nights and weekends.

Then ask about medical cover:

• How often does the doctor attend?
• Do nurses cover 24 hours? In larger homes this is common.
• Which therapy staff work there: physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychology, social work?
• How are emergencies and hospital referrals handled?

Residents normally keep their public health card and their usual GP or health centre for prescriptions, specialists and hospital care. Private homes may use their own doctor, but they still rely on the public system for emergencies and referrals. Ask how this works in practice at each home.

Judge the care approach on a visit

Visit more than once, at different times. Include a mealtime and a weekend. Ask to see every area, including the kitchen and the nursing area. A good home agrees and allows visits at flexible hours.

Good signs:

• Residents are clean, dressed and groomed, and there are no strong odours.
• Staff are calm, use residents' names and answer call bells quickly.
• Residents are busy with real activities, not left in front of a TV. Ask to see the activity calendar.
• Rooms are tidy, safe and personal.
• Meals look appetising, diets are catered for and people who need help get it.
• Staff turnover is low and restraints are rarely used. Ask about both.
• Current residents and relatives speak well of the home.

The checklist below covers these questions in order, so take it with you.

Check fit and public places

Think about fit: the language staff speak, the distance for visitors, and the resident's needs and wishes.

For a public place, prices and waiting times are set region by region. Start at the municipal social services centre (servicios sociales de base) at your town hall. It gives information and starts the application. The regional dependency body then assesses the care level (valoración de dependencia). After that, an individual care programme assigns a service or benefit. Your regional social services website publishes the application procedure, the price of public places and the co-payment (copago) rules. This route applies to people with legal residence in Spain.

Care home visit checklist: what to ask, see and verify

Care home visit checklist

• Ask your regional social services department (consejería) to confirm the home's licence in the regional register of social service centres.

• Ask how often the doctor attends, whether nurses cover 24 hours, and which therapy staff (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychology, social work) are on site.

• Watch whether residents are clean, dressed and groomed, and whether staff are calm, use residents' names and answer call bells quickly.

• Stay through a mealtime and check that the food looks appetising, diets are catered for and residents who need help get it.

• Look at the activity calendar and check that residents are really taking part, not sitting in front of a TV.

• Check that rooms are tidy, safe and personalised, and ask the home to show every area, including the kitchen and nursing area.

• Ask about staff turnover and about the use of physical or chemical restraints.

• Visit again at a different time, such as a weekend, and speak with current residents and relatives.

• Ask for a copy of the contract and the written price list before you decide, and check what the monthly fee includes and what costs extra.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find out if a care home has been seriously sanctioned?

Serious sanctions against a care home are often published in your region's official gazette. You can search the gazette for the home's name. If nothing appears, ask the regional inspection service or file a transparency request.

When is the best time to visit a care home?

Visit at different times, including a mealtime and a weekend, because staffing and atmosphere can change. A good home lets you visit at flexible hours and shows you every area, including the kitchen and nursing. Weekend and mealtime visits show you how many staff are on duty.

Where do I find the prices and waiting times for public places in my region?

Start with your regional social-services department's website, which publishes the price of public places (plazas públicas) and the co-payment (copago) rules. Your town hall's social services centre (servicios sociales de base) can give you information and start the dependency application. Price orders for public places are usually published in the regional official gazette.