Spain (incl. the Canary Islands)

You will be able to access a general practitioner (médico de familia) or paediatrician (pediatra) directly when you seek treatment at a health centre (centro sanitario or centro de salud) or at the consulting office (consultorio) of a doctor within the public system. You can see a specialist if you have a general practitioner´s referral. Make sure that the doctor treating you belongs to Spain´s public healthcare system (asistencia sanitaria pública or asistencia del Sistema Nacional de Salud) and present your European Health Insurance Card and ID at the appointment. In this way, treatment is free. It is a good idea to have a paper copy of your European Health Insurance Card with you, so that you can show the original card at the reception desk and give the copy to the doctor.

Dental care is available in the public health care system only for children under 14 years of age, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and certain cancer patients. Other patients must pay for dental care themselves. Cases requiring emergency treatment are free of charge in the public healthcare system.

When collecting prescription medication prescribed by a doctor in the public system from a pharmacy (farmacia) in Spain, present your European Health Insurance Card and ID. All customers must pay a share of their medication costs by themselves. If you are staying in Spain temporarily, you pay a 50 per cent co-payment for medically necessary medication treatment by showing your European Health Insurance Card. Pensioner tourists pay a 10 per cent co-payment. Finnish pension recipients permanently residing in Spain usually also pay the 10-per cent co-payment. If it is not apparent from the date of birth on your health insurance card that you are a pensioner, you may be asked to provide additional proof.

Prescriptions are valid for 10 days from the date of issue. For chronic conditions or repeat prescriptions, the validity period starts from the estimated dispensing date indicated by the doctor.

With a Finnish electronic prescription, you can now buy medicines from almost all pharmacies in Spain (sanidad.gob.es, in Spanish). You can purchase the medication by showing your passport or official identity card in the pharmacy. However, note that not all medicines can be purchased with an electronic prescription abroad. Check the restrictions on the Kanta.fi website. You can claim reimbursement from Kela retrospectively.

You can access hospital treatment with a specialist´s referral. In urgent cases, however, you can go directly to an outpatient clinic (ambulatorio) or a hospital (urgencias). When you present your European Health Insurance Card and ID, in addition to the referral, at the hospital´s reception desk, treatment, including medicines, will be free of charge. Otherwise, you will be regarded as a private patient and you will have to pay for treatment.

Ambulance transport is free if transportation is necessary for a medical reason and you present your European Health Insurance Card.

If your illness requires you to use special transport when returning to Finland, you will be liable for the travel costs in their entirety. You are recommended to take out a travel insurance that covers these costs.

Remember to make sure that your patient data is transferred between countries. You can provide those responsible for your follow-up care or your health centre with the patient records concerning the treatment you received abroad. If the patient records need to be translated, you will be responsible for arranging that yourself.

An electronic Patient Summary is in use between Spain and Finland, which means that doctors can, to a limited extent, view the health information that has been previously recorded about you in Finland. The Patient Summary contains information such as diagnoses, prescriptions and allergies. Check with your place of treatment whether they use the Patient Summary. You must also give your consent in MyKanta for the use of the Patient Summary.

Read more about the Patient Summary on the MyKanta website.

The Regional Authorities supervise the quality and safety of healthcare services provided in their region. You can obtain additional information by contacting the authorities for the region in which your place of treatment is located.

In the event of treatment injuries, the legislation and patient insurance of the country providing the treatment is always applied. In case you are unhappy with the treatment you received, you should primarily try to sort the matter out with the treatment provider. The national contact point can help you with finding the right authority if you wish to make a complaint.

The National Health System in Spain is managed by health services of the the Autonomous Regions. The public healthcare system provides primary, specialist, and hospital care in its own facilities. Only certain private clinics have agreements with the public health services to treat patients. Treatment in the public system is free of charge. In Spain, you must pay for private treatment yourself.