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Health in Spain
If you travel to Spain and you are worried about having health problems there, maybe the fact that the WHO has classified Spanish health care system at the 7th position in Europe will provide you some peace.Another indicator of Spanish medical system quality is that Spain is subject to medical tourism(where you can even find agencies organizing tours to Spain), arriving especially from the United Kingdom and Scandinavia.
Health centres are situated within 15 minutes of any residential place in Spain. Local surgeries are open on specific days with regional medical staff visiting in rural areas and small villages.
Health care system is free of charge (excluding dentistry) for children, students, unemployed people and homeless people.They are provided with the same quality and care as workers paying a social-health insurance, which covers completehealth care at state-owned hospitals and other health care providing facilities. Although many people pay private health insurance and use private clinics for common medical check-ups, in case of serious health problems, which require hospitalization, most of them prefer state medical facilities because they getbetter treatment results and they have modern equipment available.
Before you goto Spain
You don’t need to have any special vaccination in order to visit this country. You should just check the validity of your tetanus vaccination because it is generally useful wherever you travel, does not matter if in Spain or in your own country.
If you are a resident of the European Union, you can use a European Health Insurance Card. Such card enables you to access free-of-charge or reduced-cost necessary medical care (such as illness or accident) whilst in Spain. The card provides tourists with public health care in state hospitals, equal to the care receivedby people insured in Spain.
Please note that dental care is not covered by the card in most of cases!!
You should know that the card will not allow you to visit a private medical unit and no refund will be provided to you on its basis. When visiting a private facility you either need to pay everything in cash or possess a travel medical insurance. To own a travel insurance card is reasonable nonetheless when travelling, but especially when you are not a resident of the European Union.
In case you suffer from a chronic health condition and need to visit a doctor regularly (for example, for a dialysis purpose or health problems), don’t forget to bring the European Health Insurance Card with you as it will cover all the medical treatment until your condition does not make it compulsory. It is advisable to take a letter describing your health and medicaments used from your doctor to Spain.
Medical treatment in Spain
If you need an English speaking doctor whilst in Spain you can check the PaginasAmarillas (Spanish Yellow Pages) or ask at your health insurance company (in case you are insured), to provide you with a list of doctors. However, it is recommended to learn a couple of Spanish vocabularies and phrases. If you suffer from some medical problems, you should focus on getting a translation of the medical information you bring to this country.
Here are some Spanish terms of health care institutions:
- Consultorio = ConsultingCentre
- Ambulatorio = Ambulance
- Centro de salud = Medical Facility
- Hospital = Hospital
You can present your European Health Insurance Card or your travel insurance details in these places.
Medicaments
You can get many medicaments without a prescription in Spain (antibiotics included).Nevertheless, you will need a prescription if you apply for reimbursement.
Anyway, it is recommended to take your regular medication with you, and if you don’t, it is advisable to ask your doctor for generic names of your medicine as drug names vary often from state to state
Common opening hours of Spanish pharmacies are:
Mondaysto Fridays: From 9.30 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to 9.30 pm
Saturdays: From 9.30 am to 2 pm
24-hour pharmacies can be found in bigger cities.
Emergency numbers
- 112 –the most important number in Spain = for all kinds of emergencies
- 061 - Ambulance
- 062 - Guardia Civil (Civil Guard)
- 080 - Bomberos (fire fighters)
- 091 - PoliciaNacional (National Police)
Other information
For more details about Spanish Medical Care please visit www.msps.es (Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equality)
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