Health in Spain

The Spanish National Health Service experiences some of the same problems as the UK, but standards are generally higher, and waiting times usually less. Every town and village has an Ambulatorio - Health Centre - offering good primary care if you are registered there. Larger towns have a kind of Health Centre called a CAP. ?Centro de Assitencia Primaria?. (Primary Care Centre). This handles a lot of the work that an Outpatients Department of your local hospital would do in the UK. All dentists are private, but much less expensive than in the UK. Think in terms of ?1 = GBP1.

Getting your UK National Health registration transferred to Spain is however a lengthy and tedious process. You may want to employ a ?gestor? to handle that for you. A ?gestor? is a person that acts as a kind of intermediary between you and the Spanish Civil Service. They are invaluable and worth every penny of their modest fees. Find one as soon as you arrive!

Like in the UK, there are private Health Insurance schemes. They are very cost effective if you are under 60 at the date that you start the plan, more expensive if you are over 60. Private health care is excellent and instantly accessible. Language can be a problem even in the private sector, if you don't speak Spanish.