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Healthcare for migrants in Spain
SHAPE's editorial comparison places migrant healthcare access in Spain in the most accessible category (Success). Entitlement: 2026 national procedure for people without legal residence.
Most accessible category
Provider type: National/regional health system / primary care / NGO · International migrants (2024): 8,870,527
- Access rule: A March 2026 national procedure standardises publicly funded care for foreign nationals without legal residence, using a declaration and provisional coverage while eligibility is decided.
- Main barriers: Proof, local implementation, registration, language and fear can still affect uptake despite the national route.
- Migration measure: UN DESA estimates 8,870,527 international migrants at mid-year 2024. This is a point-in-time stock, not the number of people who arrived during 2024. The estimate is based on the foreign-born population. Refugee, asylum-seeker or refugee-like population data are incorporated where indicated by UN DESA.
- Origin definition: The origin shares below use country or area of birth for foreign-born estimates and country of citizenship for foreign-citizen estimates. They do not establish a person's nationality, ethnicity, language, reason for migration, legal status, recent-arrival status or undocumented status.
- Measurement basis: Foreign-born population + refugee/asylum adjustments (UN DESA code B R)
- Evidence note: ECDC indicators use 2024 reports: the foreign-born share is calculated only among diagnoses with known origin; late diagnosis is the country-level share with CD4 <350 cells/µL and is not migrant-specific. Data Unavailable means no sufficiently interpretable value was published; a blank is not zero. The status is an editorial comparison of legal entitlement and practical access and does not apply equally to every migrant group.
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Based on public, cited sources and SHAPE's review. Rules and prices change, so please confirm with the national authority or a professional. Found an error? Tell us.