Health Care In Spain
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There is a state health system in Spain, which is available free of charge to people who have paid the required amount of social security throughout their working lives.
Anybody can go to their local health care centre “Ambulatorio” and get minor treatment, so long as they can produce a Social Security card from an EU country.
Health care centres serving large towns tend to be very big and will have a lot of staff. You can either make an appointment for one or two days ahead or you can, depending on the time you go and how many other people are waiting, take a number and sit and wait to see a doctor.
If you are a minor emergency case, you will be seen as soon as you arrive. Serious emergency cases are dealt with in the Emergency department “Urgencias” of the local hospital.
Whilst the state system is not bad, if you want to be seen quickly and have more privacy or should you need to stay in a hospital, then you need to take out a private medical insurance.
A lot of our friends have private medical insurance, whilst others prefer to save the money and spend it on a new car or whatever. My advice would be to take out medical insurance cover.
