Doctors, insurance and emergencies in Barcelona

Getting into the public system

Catalonia runs its own health service, CatSalut, and access starts at the centre d'atenció primària (CAP) covering your registered address. You take your padrón, NIE and social security or entitlement document to the CAP, register, and are assigned a family doctor and a paediatrician for children. The card that follows is the targeta sanitària individual, which carries the CIP number you will be asked for at every appointment.

• Register at the CAP for your address — you cannot pick a centre across town.
• Bring the padrón certificate, NIE, passport and proof of entitlement or social security number.
• EU arrivals can bridge the gap with an EHIC or S1 while registration completes.

How care is delivered

The CAP handles most things and refers onward to hospital specialists; you cannot generally self-refer within the public system. Emergency and hospital care is well regarded, and Barcelona's teaching hospitals are among the best in Spain. Waiting times for non-urgent specialist appointments and elective surgery are the weak point, which is why a large share of residents also hold private cover.

• La Meva Salut is the regional patient app: results, prescriptions, appointments.
• Prescriptions are electronic and collected at any pharmacy with the health card.
• 061 is the Catalan health line; 112 is the general emergency number.

Private cover

Private insurance is common, inexpensive by northern European standards, and mostly bought for speed and for English-speaking consultations rather than for better clinical outcomes. Policies typically carry waiting periods for anything non-urgent and exclude pre-existing conditions, so declare honestly and read the carencias. Many people simply pay cash for a private consultation when they want one instead of holding a policy at all.

Pharmacies and everyday care

Farmàcies are dense, identifiable by a green cross, and pharmacists advise on and dispense a good deal without a prescription. Each area runs an overnight rota, posted in the windows of the closed ones and published online. Dentistry and optometry are private in practice, and priced accordingly, which is worth budgeting for separately.