The Spanish health system has a good reputation, and the Costa Brava is well equipped. How you access it depends mainly on one thing: whether you are visiting or moving here. Here are the main rules for UK nationals, to be checked on GOV.UK and with the NHS for your own situation.
For your stays: the GHIC
If you live in the UK, apply for the UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), free of charge on the NHS website; a UK EHIC still works until its expiry date. It gives you access to medically necessary care in the Spanish public system, on the same terms as local patients. It does not cover private clinics or repatriation, so travel insurance remains essential. Remember too that, since Brexit, UK nationals can stay in Spain for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa.
If you retire here
A UK State Pensioner who moves to Spain can, in principle, be covered by the Spanish system through an S1 form, requested from NHS Overseas Healthcare Services. You register the S1 with the Spanish social security office (INSS), then get a Catalan health card and a GP. In practice this goes hand in hand with residency and being registered with the town hall.
Other situations
If you work in Spain, you are covered by the Spanish system through your job. If you move here with no job and no UK State Pension, you will usually need full private health insurance, which is also a condition of the non-lucrative visa most UK retirees and early retirees apply for.
Healthcare facilities in the area
The Costa Brava has several hospitals and local health centres, and Girona University Hospital is the reference for specialist care. Many private clinics and pharmacies complete the picture. For a retirement project, distance to healthcare is one of our criteria, as we explain in the article depending on your project.
And your UK travel or private health insurance?
Check the terms: annual travel policies often limit the length of each trip, and UK private health cover rarely extends to living abroad.
Visiting or moving here, the rule is the same: sort out healthcare before you leave, not at your first medical appointment.
