Firstly, in an emergency do not worry about insurance, as under Spanish law any health organisation is obliged to treat patients regardless of their health insurance status.
If you are not too unwell you should take yourself to your nearest emergency department in a hospital looking for the sign “urgencias” or a 24 –hour public health clinic. If you do not have the address details at hand, stop off at the local police station or pharmacy as they will have this information.
If the situation is not urgent but you need a doctor or medicine call 1003 who will give you information on either a doctor on call or the address of the nearest pharmacy on duty. Likewise, you can also get this information from your nearest police station.
If your condition is life threatening then you or someone on your behalf will need to call for an ambulance.
Phone Numbers
The easiest to remember is the international emergency number: 112
Ambulance service in Costa del Sol: 061
Red Cross (Cruz Roja) tel: 952 443 545
If you are a member of Helicopteros Sanitarios, you should call: 952 816 767. They have both an ambulance and call out doctor service.
Private ambulance services provide a 24-hour service in most towns and are listed by town under Ambulances in the Yellow Pages.
Please note that by law taxis are obliged to transport medical emergencies to hospital when requested to do so. You can also turn your own car into an ambulance by switching on your hazard lights and hanging a white piece of material e.g. T-shirt, shirt etc from a window. Please do not use this as method of escaping traffic as if caught you will be fined heavily!
Written by
Susan Pedalino