You must be in the process of preparing to move to Spain and are concerned about receiving medical care in a language you understand, since you are reading this article.
With 4 years of experience in private healthcare and insurance in Spain, I can confidently say that the number of doctors, clinics, and the quality of care greatly depend on the city in Spain you are planning to move to.
In the largest cities in Spain, such as Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, you will have the widest selection of clinics and doctors, including English-speaking ones. If you choose to move to these large cities, communication issues in English at clinics will be minimal.
However, if you choose smaller cities, things are not so simple. In the north of Spain, there are relatively few doctors and clinics (this is due to the local population size and the lack of a large influx of foreigners as seen in the south of Spain). As a result, doctors and medical staff speak little English, and until you learn Spanish at a conversational level, it is quite likely that you will need the services of a translator.
Marbella, one of the most popular destinations for expats, is a place where it even seems that more people speak English than Spanish. There are plenty of English-speaking doctors here, and you can easily address many health concerns. My personal recommendation for Marbella, as an experienced expert, is to get private health insurance with reimbursement. There are many private doctors in the city and surrounding areas who do not work with insurance companies.
Clinics in Benidorm, Calpe, and Denia have English-speaking doctors or translators. The number of doctors depends on the size of the city: Benidorm has more doctors, while the smaller Calpe has slightly fewer.
The number of doctors available in your city directly affects appointment times, but I will talk about this in the next blog article.
If you need more information about private insurance in Spain, feel free to get in touch with me in WhatsApp or Telegram
