Healthcare in Madrid, made simple for English speakers.

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What should I do if I fall ill in Madrid?

It depends on two things: how urgent the problem is, and whether you are here for a short trip or living in the city. Get those straight and the rest follows.

For anything sudden or serious, call 112. For a problem that is not an emergency but cannot wait, you have options: a pharmacy for minor things, an out-of-hours primary care point, or one of the city’s private clinics. Madrid is unusual in Spain for having several large private hospitals with formal international-patient services, so English-speaking care is easier to arrange here than in most of the country.

If you are a short-stay visitor, a UK GHIC or EHIC gives you access to the public system for medically necessary care. If you live here and are registered, you use the regional public service, the Servicio Madrileño de Salud, like any resident.

Your entitlement

What does the GHIC cover in Spain after Brexit?

A UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) gives you state healthcare in Spain on the same terms as a local: emergency and medically necessary treatment that cannot reasonably wait until you are home, including a flare-up of a condition you already have. It does not cover private hospitals, it will not fly you home, and it is not travel insurance.

The GHIC is the post-Brexit replacement for the old European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). If you still hold a valid EHIC issued before the transition ended, you can keep using it in Spain until it expires, then replace it with a GHIC. Both are free, and you should be suspicious of any website that charges for one; apply only through the NHS. Think of the card as a floor rather than a ceiling: it catches you in an emergency in the public system, and that is all it is designed to do.

If you live here, the picture changes. UK state pensioners and certain posted workers can register for full Spanish public cover using the S1 form, which the UK funds on your behalf; the clearest starting point is the UK government's Living in Spain guide, the single most useful page the government publishes for residents. Everyone else settling here either pays into the public system through the convenio especial, takes out private insurance, or both. In practice, registration means getting your empadronamiento at the town hall, your residency document (the TIE), and a social-security number before a local health centre will issue your health card.

When it cannot wait

Where do I go in a medical emergency in Madrid?

Call 112. It works anywhere in Spain, from any phone, free, and Madrid’s emergency line says it can handle calls in more than 80 languages, so ask for English and stay on the line. It is the single number for ambulance, police and fire.

Hospital emergency departments (urgencias) are open 24 hours, every day. The large public hospitals with A&E in the city include La Paz, Gregorio Marañón, 12 de Octubre, Ramón y Cajal and Clínico San Carlos. Emergency care is given by urgency, not by who arrived first, so the most serious cases are seen soonest.

For an urgent problem that is not life-threatening and falls outside normal surgery hours, Madrid runs out-of-hours primary care points called Puntos de Atención Continuada. Take your passport or identity document and, if you have one, your GHIC, EHIC or insurance details.

Care in your language

Can I find English-speaking healthcare in Madrid?

Yes, more easily than almost anywhere else in Spain, though mostly in the private sector. In the public system, Spanish is the default and English availability varies by hospital, department and shift, so do not assume it.

Several large private hospitals in Madrid run formal international-patient services with multilingual staff and interpreters, aimed at visitors, students and residents who want care in English. There are also smaller private clinics with bilingual teams. To find providers that are independently noted as English-speaking, the UK Foreign Office publishes a list of English-speaking doctors and facilities for Madrid, which is a good neutral starting point.

In a genuine emergency, none of this should worry you: 112 and hospital A&E will treat you whatever language you speak.

From your hotel or apartment

How do I see an English-speaking doctor online in Spain?

If your problem is not an emergency and you would rather not sit in a waiting room, you can see an English-speaking doctor online in Spain by video, phone or message, often the same day. A licensed Spanish doctor can assess you remotely and, where appropriate, issue an electronic private prescription you collect at any Spanish pharmacy.

Online doctor services, or telemedicine, have quietly become one of the easiest ways for tourists, expats and digital nomads to get unhurried medical care in their own language, without local insurance and without losing a day of the holiday to a waiting room. A typical online consultation in Spain can cover a minor illness, a travel or sick-note medical certificate, a specialist referral, or a continuation supply of medication you already take. What a responsible online doctor will not do is handle emergencies, prescribe controlled medicines such as strong painkillers or sleeping tablets, or treat young children remotely; for anything urgent you still call 112 and seek care face to face.

For the most common need, continuing a medication you already take and have simply run out of, the most direct route is The Holiday Doctor, in the section just below. For broader needs that fall outside a continuation supply, such as a minor illness, a travel or sick-note medical certificate, or a specialist referral, a travellers' telemedicine service like MyDoctor-In offers video and message consultations with bilingual doctors and electronic prescriptions valid at pharmacies in Spain and across the European Union, without needing Spanish insurance.

Teeth

Is there an English-speaking dentist in Madrid?

Most adult dental care in Spain is private, and Madrid has a large private dental sector, much of it used to international patients. The public system covers only a limited package, mainly pain, infection, dental trauma and certain extractions, plus care for children.

For routine or cosmetic work, and for most out-of-hours dental emergencies, you will be using a private dentist and paying directly. To check a practitioner is registered, and to find one, the regional dental college, the Colegio Oficial de Odontólogos y Estomatólogos de la I Región, keeps an official register. The Foreign Office list of English-speaking doctors and facilities also flags some English-speaking dentists.

A little Spanish goes a long way

Useful Spanish words at the doctor or pharmacy

You do not need fluent Spanish to get good care in Madrid, but a handful of words make everything smoother, and they are the terms you will see on signs and hear on the phone.

The most common holiday worry

I have run out of my medication in Spain. What can I do?

Start at a pharmacy. Spanish pharmacists are highly trained, and many medicines that are prescription-only in the UK are available over the counter in Spain, so a short conversation often solves the problem on the spot.

Where that is not enough, and the medicine is one you already take regularly, you have options that do not involve cutting your trip short or going without. A private Spanish doctor can review your situation, and an online clinical review with a Spanish-registered, English-speaking doctor is often the quickest, calmest route to a continuation supply of the medication you already take, where it is safe and clinically appropriate to provide one. Bring the name of your medication (ideally the generic name, since brands differ between countries) and, if you have it, a copy of your most recent prescription or repeat slip. A Spanish private electronic prescription is issued through REMPe, the national electronic prescription registry, and can be dispensed at any pharmacy in the country.

If it is on your mind

Can I look after my weight while I am here?

Managing your weight is best done with medical supervision and a plan you can keep, rather than alone or on impulse while away from home.

If this is something you are thinking about, it is worth doing it properly. Nivelta is a Spain-based clinical service offering a remote medical review and ongoing follow-up with a doctor for medically supervised weight management. It is a clinical service rather than a shop: whether any treatment is appropriate depends entirely on a clinician's assessment of your individual situation, your medical history and your safety. For the everyday side of looking after yourself, the next section is a better place to start.

The gap the card leaves

Do I still need travel insurance if I have a GHIC?

Yes. The GHIC covers state treatment only. It will not pay to repatriate you, it does not cover private hospitals, and it covers none of the ordinary disasters of travel.

An air ambulance back to the UK can run to tens of thousands of pounds, and if the public queue is long or the nearest available bed is private, you may end up paying privately for care the card does not touch. Most insurers now expect you to carry a valid GHIC anyway, and some waive your excess if you use it, so the two work together rather than in competition. The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office travel advice for Spain sets out the current position, and it is worth a glance before you travel for any entry rules in force at the time.

Staying well

How do I stay healthy while I am in Madrid?

Madrid sits high on a plateau and gets genuinely hot in summer, with temperatures that catch visitors out. Drink more water than feels necessary, keep out of the midday sun in July and August, and do not underestimate how much walking a day in the city involves.

For the small things that do not need a doctor, a sunburn, an upset stomach, a blister, a Spanish pharmacy is the right first stop and the green cross is never far away. Carry any regular medication in its original packaging with a copy of your prescription, and keep your GHIC or insurance details on your phone so they are there if you ever need them.

Being straight with you

What an online doctor cannot help with

Some situations need a person in the room, and it is important to be honest about them.

An online clinical review is not for emergencies; for anything urgent or life-threatening you call 112, not a website. It is not for under-18s, and it is not the route to start a brand-new, high-risk medicine for the first time, which needs proper in-person assessment. It cannot help anyone who is not physically in Spain. And a prescription is never automatic: a doctor reviews each request, and where a medicine or a situation needs face-to-face care, the honest answer is to say so and point you to it. None of this is small print. It is the difference between a service that is safe and one that is not.

Quick questions

Frequently asked questions

Check it yourself

Useful organisations and official sources

This page points you to the authorities so you can confirm anything that matters for your own situation. Rules and entitlements change, so the official source is always the final word.