Healthcare in Marbella

Public healthcare is provided by the Andalusian Health Service (Servicio Andaluz de Salud, SAS). Public services operate primarily in Spanish, and access requires formal registration. For non-urgent care, you must visit your assigned health centre with your health card; referrals to specialists are made through your assigned general practitioner (médico de cabecera). Note that there may be a coverage gap between your arrival and the full activation of your health card. Dental care under the public system is largely excluded, meaning dental treatment is mostly private and must be budgeted for separately.

Registering for public healthcare involves a sequential process:

1. Complete your padrón registration (empadronamiento) at your Marbella address.
2. Register with SAS through your assigned local health centre.
3. Receive your Andalusian health card (tarjeta sanitaria).

Primary care is delivered through a network of Centros de Salud located across Marbella's districts. These include the La Campana centre in Nueva Andalucía, alongside other health centres serving the town centre, San Pedro de Alcántara, and outlying areas. You are allocated to a specific Centro de Salud based on your registered residential address.

The main public referral hospital in the area is Hospital Costa del Sol. Located in Marbella, this large facility serves the wider western Costa del Sol area and provides emergency care, surgery, maternity services, and specialist consultations.

For life-threatening emergencies, dial 112, the standard Spanish emergency number. Acute emergencies are handled by the public Hospital Costa del Sol. Private hospitals also maintain emergency departments, but you must check whether your private policy covers emergency treatment at those facilities. For medications outside standard hours, local pharmacies (farmacias) display rotating on-call duty information on their premises.

Marbella maintains a large private healthcare sector that caters extensively to international residents, with multiple clinics, dental practices, and specialist centres operating across Marbella and Puerto Banús offering same-day appointments and English-speaking staff. Dedicated private hospitals include:

• Quirón Marbella: Part of the Quironsalud group, this 66-bed hospital in central Marbella provides specialist services, surgical facilities, and an emergency department.
• HC Marbella International Hospital: An internationally oriented facility with expanded suites and multilingual staff tailored to foreign residents. Check their service list and language capabilities directly.

If you require private health insurance for a visa, ensure the insurer is recognised by Spanish consulates and that the policy covers treatment in Andalusia.

Marbella offers an exceptionally broad healthcare infrastructure compared to most Spanish towns, combining a major public hospital with extensive private options geared towards foreign residents. However, language can be a dividing line: public SAS services operate largely in Spanish, while English-speaking care is concentrated in the private sector. Marbella is particularly well suited to retirees and expatriates who value having both comprehensive public facilities like Hospital Costa del Sol and international private hospitals directly on their doorstep.