Short answer
Spanish private health insurance gives you access to a private network of doctors and hospitals, usually for a fixed monthly premium. A basic policy without co-payments averaged about €46 a month in Rastreator's December 2025 index, but age is the biggest factor. Visa applicants normally need a comprehensive policy with no co-payments and no waiting periods; residents who already have public cover can often save with a co-payment policy.
Private cover in Spain is a market of a handful of large insurers (Sanitas, SegurCaixa Adeslas, DKV, ASISA and Mapfre among them) plus international insurers aimed at people who need worldwide cover. The guides below are grouped in the order most people need them.
Start here
- What Is Private Health Insurance in Spain?How Spanish private cover works, how it sits alongside the public system, and what to check before you buy.
- Who Needs Private Health Insurance in Spain?A decision table by visa, work status and nationality, showing who must have private cover and who can rely on Spanish public healthcare.
- Public vs Private Healthcare in SpainA side-by-side comparison of access, waiting times, cost, dental, prescriptions and visa evidence, and why many residents end up using both.
- How Much Does Private Health Insurance Cost in Spain?Real 2025–2026 prices from Rastreator and the insurers' own tariffs, by age, region and level of cover, plus the public alternative.
Choosing a policy
- The Best Private Health Insurance in Spain for ExpatsA side-by-side comparison of the insurers English speakers actually use, built only from what each company publishes.
- Types of Private Health Insurance in SpainOutpatient, complete, modular, reimbursement and visa policies: how each works, what it costs and which one fits your situation.
- What Does Sin Copago Mean in Spanish Health Insurance?No-co-payment cover explained: what you stop paying, what still applies, how much more it costs and why consulates insist on it.
- Network vs Reimbursement Health Insurance in SpainHow a cuadro médico policy differs from a reembolso policy, what reimbursement products actually repay, and which one a visa accepts.
- Prepare to Compare Health Insurance Policies in SpainWhat to decide, gather and ask before you request quotes, so the policies you compare are genuinely comparable.
- Getting private health insurance quotes in SpainDirect from insurers or through a registered broker: how to get quotes you can actually compare.
What's covered and what isn't
- What Does Private Health Insurance in Spain Cover?What a standard comprehensive policy includes, where the limits sit, and how Adeslas, DKV and Sanitas compare on paper.
- What Private Health Insurance in Spain Doesn't Cover (and Why It Matters)The standard exclusions in Spanish policies, taken from real policy wording, and the ones most likely to leave you with a bill.
- Waiting Periods and Sin Carencias in Spanish Health InsuranceHow long you wait before using surgery, hospital and maternity cover, and what sin carencias really removes.
- Dental, Optical and Mental Health Cover in SpainThe three areas where comprehensive Spanish health policies cover the least, with the real limits from Adeslas, DKV and Sanitas.
- Maternity and Pregnancy Cover in Spanish Health InsuranceWhat Spanish policies pay for pregnancy and birth, the 8-month waiting period, and how to add your baby without losing cover.
Age and health
- Health Insurance in Spain with Pre-existing Conditions: What You Need to KnowThe health questionnaire, what the law makes you disclose, how exclusions work and which routes skip medical underwriting.
- What Health Insurance Is Available for Over-75s in Spain?Entry ages, renewal rules and real 2026 prices for people aged 75 and over, plus the public routes that often work better.
Living with a policy
- What Does Your Private Insurance Actually Do in an Emergency?How 112, public urgencias and your insurer's emergency service fit together, and who pays when you end up in a hospital outside your network.
- How to Check an Insurer in Spain's DGSFP RegisterA five-minute check that tells you whether the company behind a policy, and the person selling it, is authorised in Spain.
- Cancelling, Renewing or Switching Health Insurance in SpainThe notice rules, what your insurer can and cannot do at renewal, and how to change company without losing cover or restarting waiting periods.
- Complaints and Rejected Health Insurance Claims in SpainHow to challenge a refused authorisation or claim, from the insurer's own complaints department to the DGSFP and the courts.