Healthcare in Spain for expats: waits and hospitals
For many people moving to Spain, healthcare matters more than the weather. Two questions: how close is a good hospital, and how long is the wait?
Who can use the public system?
This page measures distance and waiting times; it cannot tell you whether you are covered. The rules in short, with the official pages to check: EU citizens with a state pension use the public system through the S1 form from their own country (Your Europe: health cover when living abroad); UK state pensioners likewise through the S1 (gov.uk: healthcare in Spain); people working and paying social security in Spain are covered; others, including most non-EU retirees, need private insurance, and after a year of residence most regions offer a paid "convenio especial" into the public system (Ministry of Health). Not advice: check your own case.
Waiting times depend on the region
Spain's public health service is run by the seventeen regions, and waiting times differ a lot. For planned surgery the average wait was 50 days in Madrid and 173 days in Andalusia at the end of 2025 (Spain: 121 days). In Andalusia 32.2% of patients had waited more than six months, against 0.8% in Madrid.
Average wait for planned surgery, by region (days)
The wait for a first visit to a specialist ranks the regions differently: from 16 days in Melilla to 162 days in the Canary Islands.
Average wait for a first specialist visit, by region (days)
Distance: a hospital is rarely far
162 of the 333 places have a public general hospital in town, and 260 have one within 10 km. Large hospitals with 500 or more beds, which offer most specialties, are fewer: 51 places have one in town and 204 within 25 km. 66 places are more than 50 km from one; 11 of them are on the islands, whose large hospitals are on Mallorca, Gran Canaria and Tenerife.
“Far from a large hospital” does not mean far from care: 31 of those 66 places have their own public hospital of 200 beds or more in town (for example Lleida, Tarragona, Algeciras, Reus). Only the most specialised treatment means travelling.
Farthest from a 500-bed public hospital
| Place | Region | Distance | Nearest large hospital | Hospital in or nearest the town |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrecife | Canary Islands | 206 km | Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Insular Materno Infantil | Hospital Universitario Dr. José Molina Orosa (252 beds) |
| Melilla | Melilla | 179 km | Hospital Universitario Torrecardenas | Hospital Comarcal (168 beds) |
| Puerto del Rosario | Canary Islands | 159 km | Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Insular Materno Infantil | Hospital General de Fuerteventura (131 beds) |
| La Oliva | Canary Islands | 156 km | Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Insular Materno Infantil | Hospital General de Fuerteventura (131 beds) |
| Maó | Balearic Islands | 143 km | Hospital Universitari Son Espases | Hospital Mateu Orfila (142 beds) |
| Sant Josep de sa Talaia | Balearic Islands | 137 km | Hospital Universitari Son Espases | Hospital Can Misses (382 beds) |
| Sant Antoni de Portmany | Balearic Islands | 133 km | Hospital Universitari Son Espases | Hospital Can Misses (382 beds) |
| Eivissa | Balearic Islands | 128 km | Hospital Universitari Son Espases | Hospital Can Misses (382 beds) |
| Lleida | Catalonia | 123 km | Hospital de Sabadell | Hospital Universitari Arnau de Vilanova de Lleida. (482 beds) |
| Santa Eulària des Riu | Balearic Islands | 116 km | Hospital Universitari Son Espases | Hospital Can Misses (382 beds) |
Private hospitals
109 places have a private general hospital in town. Many foreign residents combine the public system, which covers you once you are registered and paying into it or drawing a qualifying pension, with private insurance for shorter waits; non-EU citizens applying for some visas must have private insurance. Check your own situation with the authorities or an adviser: this is not advice.
On the compare page you can filter on distance to a public, large or private hospital and on regional waiting times.
How we did this
Waiting times: Ministry of Health, SISLE-SNS, 31 December 2025, per region. Hospitals: Ministry of Health, Catálogo Nacional de Hospitales 2025 (general hospitals only); “large” = 500+ beds, counting all buildings of a hospital complex at its main building. Distances are straight-line from the town centre to the hospital's municipality. Built 2026-10-18.