This covers visits to your GP, treatment in hospital, subsidised prescription drugs and dental check-ups (but not dental work). To access public healthcare, expats must be contributors to social security (Seguridad Social, www.seg-social.es), either as employees or as freelancers, or EU retirees whose pensions are paid to Spain.

EU citizens can use their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC, formally known as E111) for basic ‘tourist’ cover while they find their feet. If you qualify for public healthcare, you will be issued with a personal health card (Tarjeta Sanitaria Individual, www.scsalud.es) at the Social Security office (INSS, Oficina del Instituto Nacional de Seguridad Social). With this, you can register with a GP at the local health centre, known as the CAP (Centro de Atención Primaria).

On the whole, public facilities are clean. Barcelona has some of the best public hospitals in Spain, the Hospital Universitario Vall d’Hebron, for instance, hosting a level of specialist investigation and research with which most private hospitals can’t compete. In certain areas, such as dermatology, public institutions are considered leaders in their field.