Healthcare on the Costa del Sol, for English speakers.

Local detail

Find your town on the Costa del Sol

Each town guide has the same plain-English help, localised: the public hospital and 24-hour A&E, the private clinics where English is spoken, the dentists and pharmacies, and what to do if you run out of medication.

More town guides, including Benalmádena, Fuengirola and Mijas, are being added to the network.

The lay of the land

Where are the hospitals on the Costa del Sol?

The reference public hospital for the western coast is the Hospital Universitario Costa del Sol in Marbella, with a 24-hour A&E. Estepona has its own Hospital de Alta Resolución, and towns nearer Málaga, such as Torremolinos and Benalmádena, use the large Málaga city hospitals; every town also has public centros de salud for day-to-day care.

For care in your own language, the private hospitals are where most English speakers head. HC Marbella is the most English-first; Quirónsalud Marbella and Vithas Xanit International in Benalmádena run large international patient units; Hospiten Estepona serves the west; and Helicópteros Sanitarios, from Puerto Banús, runs a 24-hour private home-doctor and ambulance service across the western coast. The table below shows the picture town by town.

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.

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; start with the UK government's Living in Spain guide. Everyone else settling here either pays into the public system through the convenio especial, takes out private insurance, or both, after getting their empadronamiento, residency document (the TIE) and a social-security number.

When it cannot wait

Where do I go in a medical emergency?

Call 112. It works anywhere on the coast, from any phone, free, and the operators routinely take calls in English; say "English, please" and stay on the line. It is the single number for ambulance, police and fire. For a purely medical emergency you can also dial 061.

The ambulance service routes you to the right hospital for where you are: the Hospital Universitario Costa del Sol in Marbella for the western coast, the large Málaga hospitals for the eastern end, or the Hospital de Alta Resolución de Estepona. If you are unsure how serious something is, the Andalusian advice line Salud Responde (955 54 50 60) can talk it through first. For a private 24-hour A&E with English-speaking staff, Vithas Xanit International in Benalmádena and the Marbella private hospitals are the usual choices. Your town guide has the exact addresses and phone numbers.

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 become one of the easiest ways for tourists, expats and digital nomads to get unhurried medical care in their own language, without local insurance. A typical online consultation 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, or treat young children remotely; for anything urgent you still call 112.

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.

The most common holiday worry

I have run out of my medication on the Costa del Sol. 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, 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. Bring the generic name of your medication and, if you have it, a copy of your most recent prescription. 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.

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. The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office travel advice for Spain sets out the current position.

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 on the Costa del Sol, but a handful of words make everything smoother.

Staying well

Staying active along the coast

Good health here is not only about where to go when something breaks. The Costa del Sol makes the everyday version of looking after yourself unusually easy.

The Senda Litoral, a coastal boardwalk being joined up along much of the province, runs for kilometres past beaches and marinas and is made for the evening paseo, running and cycling. Behind the towns rise real mountains: La Concha above Marbella, Sierra Bermeja above Estepona, and the Sierra de Mijas above Torremolinos and Benalmádena, all with walking trails. The province-spanning Gran Senda de Málaga (GR-249) and the Sierra de las Nieves National Park open up months of walking. Each town guide lists the local trails and the council's own sports facilities.

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. 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.

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.