Healthcare in Spain

Private healthcare is relatively cheap many doctors speak English - but don't rule out the social security medical services.

 A common denominator among all nationalities is the concern they have for their healthcare. Regardless of wealth, without good or reasonable levels of fitness, the quality of life can be seriously affected. The decision to leave your own country to take up life in another may well involve several gambles but when it comes to looking after your health, there can be nothing left to chance. If children are involved this is even more the case. Can you safely and confidently leave the health care you have in your own country to take up a new life in Spain? The answer is both yes and no and depending upon where you wish to live.

Where and when it is good, the quality of Spanish healthcare and facilities available to patients probably equals anywhere in Europe and betters most. However, standards across the country vary considerably, with public medicine being scant in some inland areas. In the coastal areas of Spain you will find more medical facilities with English speaking doctors.

The Spanish are among the world's healthiest people and have an average life expectancy of 80 for women and 74 for men, the highest in the EU. The incidence of heart disease in Spain is among the lowest in the world, a fact attributed to the Spanish diet which includes considerable quantities of garlic, olive oil and red wine. Recently, this figure has started to rise and is believed to be as a result of the increasing popularity of "foods to go" such as hamburgers and other foods with high fat content.

Healthcare cost per head in Spain are average for the EU and Spain currently spend about 8 per cent of its GDP on the Nation's health. When it comes to hospital nursing care, and post-hospital treatment and follow up, the figure is below that which would be expected by Northern Europeans or Americans. It's not unusual for people to praise the care they receive in Spanish hospitals but criticize the after care, which often is claimed to be very poor. As with the UK, Spain has a public health system which provides free or low cost health care for those contributing to Spanish social security system and their families. The system also caters for retirees and includes those from other EU countries. The country has an excellent system of private medicine and this exists easily alongside the State system with both operated so as to compliment each other.

Expatriate medical problems There are medical reasons both for and against a permanent move to Spain. Expatriates problems which are well documented include sunburn, which can often be quite serious, stomach and bowel problems which can some times be attributed to the change of diet and/or water but all too often simply because of poor hygiene and careless food preparation.