Treatment in Spain: entry rules, checking a clinic and documents

Why do people go to Spain for treatment?

Patients from Georgia choose Spain for treatment less often than Turkey or Germany, but in several fields it is a serious alternative. The country's healthcare has two tiers: the public national system (Sistema Nacional de Salud, SNS), run by the autonomous regions, and a well-developed private sector. Foreign patients who pay for treatment themselves are mainly taken on by private clinics.

Georgian patients most often consider Spain in the following fields:

• Reproductive medicine. This field is regulated in detail by Law 14/2006 on assisted human reproduction techniques. Under the law, donation is anonymous and unpaid.
• Oncology and radiotherapy, including modern methods that are not always available in Georgia.
• Ophthalmology, orthopaedics and sports traumatology, where private centres have many years' experience of working with foreign patients.
• Complex and rare diagnoses, for which the Ministry of Health designates specialised reference units within the public system. We discuss them separately below.

Spain is less convenient when treatment requires frequent short visits or the patient needs a permanent interpreter in a Spanish-speaking environment: both factors increase costs and strain. The choice of country depends on the diagnosis, so make this decision together with your treating doctor. We provide practical information, not medical advice. For comparison, also read our guides to Italy and France.

What does a Georgian citizen need to enter Spain?

Spain is a member of the Schengen area, so the visa-free regime that Georgian citizens have enjoyed since 2017 applies to it. A biometric passport holder may stay in Schengen countries for 90 days in any 180-day period. The period is rolling: on any given day, what counts is how many days you spent in the Schengen area in the preceding 180 days, whether in Spain or in any other country of the area.

The visa-free regime covers visits and does not give the right to work. At the border, the border guard may ask for documents confirming the purpose of the visit and your means. The EU Delegation to Georgia lists these as a return ticket, a hotel booking or the host's address, travel insurance and proof of sufficient funds. For a patient, two more items are added to this list: the clinic's letter with the admission date, and the presupuesto or a payment receipt. Keep these papers in your hand luggage, not in a checked suitcase.

Since 10 April 2026 the Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully operational at the Schengen external borders. On first entry your fingerprints and facial image are registered, and the system counts the days of your stay itself, so exceeding the 90 days no longer goes unnoticed. The EU is also preparing a travel authorisation system (ETIAS); no action is needed until it launches, but check when buying your ticket whether it has started operating.

In March 2026 the European Commission suspended the visa-free regime for holders of Georgian diplomatic, service and official passports. This decision does not affect citizens travelling on ordinary passports, but rules can change, so check the current situation with an official source.

When will you need a visa for Spain?

Visa-free travel covers only short visits. You need to think about a visa for Spain in three typical cases:

• treatment and recovery together exceed 90 days, for example with staged surgery or long-term radiotherapy and drug therapy. In this case a Spanish national visa is required before you travel;
• the patient or the accompanying person does not have a biometric passport;
• the accompanying person is a citizen of another country who needs a Schengen visa.

When counting towards the limit, take earlier trips into account too: if you have already been in the Schengen area in the last six months, you will have fewer days left for Spain. When planning long-term treatment, ask the clinic from the outset for an approximate calendar of the stages so that the need for a visa becomes clear in good time. Which documents the embassy requires and how the package is prepared is explained in detail on the medical visa page.

How do you choose and check a clinic in Spain?

In Spain every medical facility, public or private, begins operating with a licence from the autonomous region in which it is located. This rule is laid down in Royal Decree 1277/2003, and the licences issued by the regions are recorded in the Ministry of Health's general register. The practical conclusion is simple: ask the clinic in writing which regional licence it operates under and what its register number is. A legitimate facility will share these details without hesitation.

CSUR: reference units for complex cases

For complex and rare diseases, the public system has Centros, Servicios y Unidades de Referencia (CSUR), that is, reference centres, services and units. The idea is to concentrate cases of a particular condition in a small number of centres so that doctors build up maximum experience. The list is public and published on the ministry's website. It is a good guide, but it does not mean that a public centre will necessarily accept a foreigner wishing to be treated at their own expense: this must be checked with each facility separately.

What to ask the clinic in writing

• how many patients with your diagnosis they treat per year and who your treating doctor will be;
• whether the international department has an English-speaking or Russian-speaking coordinator;
• whether the facility holds international accreditation (for example, JCI) or other independent certification;
• whether the clinic issues a treatment plan and presupuesto before your arrival;
• how communication will continue after discharge: remote consultation, follow-up visit, sending documents.

If you do not have time to search yourself, we find clinics and compare their offers as part of our clinic search service. General principles for checking a clinic and warning signs are also described in the guide to Turkey and apply to Spain as well.

What language should documents be in, and which translation do you need?

The working language of Spanish hospitals is Spanish, and in some regions a co-official language is also used: Catalan, Galician or Basque. The international departments of private clinics usually reply in English, but conversations on the ward with the nurse and the doctor on duty are often in Spanish. So the form of translation depends on who the document is being prepared for.

• For medical assessment. To prepare a plan and presupuesto, the doctor needs an accurate translation of the discharge summary and test results into English or Spanish. Certification is usually not needed here; what matters is accurate terminology and transferring doses, units and dates without change.
• For official use. If the document goes to a Spanish court, administrative body or registry, a translation by a sworn translator (traductor jurado) is required. This status is granted by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. Such a translation has official force: the translator certifies its accuracy with a wording set by the ministry, a signature and a seal, and a searchable list of appointed translators is public.

For the Georgian-Spanish pair there may be few sworn translators on the list, or none at all. In that case, ask the receiving authority in advance which form it will accept. An official document issued in Georgia, such as a power of attorney or a civil status certificate, usually needs an apostille in Spain, because both countries are parties to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. Check which form you need with the apostille and legalisation tool, and work out the cost of translation in the translation calculator.

Which documents should you send to a Spanish clinic?

A clinic will prepare an offer only once it has a full picture of your condition. Below is the package that the international departments of Spanish clinics most often ask for, with the form of translation each document requires.

The discharge summary and test results should be translated in one terminology, otherwise the Spanish doctor will meet the same diagnosis under two different names. The specifics of translating a discharge summary are on the discharge summary translation page, and the content of Form 100 and how to obtain it are in the Form 100 guide.

How does payment work, and what is not in the presupuesto?

A private clinic sends you a presupuesto after reviewing your medical documents. It often requires an advance or the full amount to be paid before arrival, and the final settlement is made on discharge according to the services actually provided. In public hospitals pricing is decided at regional level, so the cost of the same service may differ from region to region.

When you receive a presupuesto, confirm in writing:

• how long the quoted price is valid and whether it changes if the treatment date is postponed;
• whether the price includes medicines, implants, additional tests and repeat imaging;
• for a reproductive programme: the medicines for the cycle, cryopreservation of embryos and the annual storage fee;
• who covers the cost if a complication means you have to stay longer in hospital;
• on what terms the advance is refunded if the doctor changes the plan on site or the treatment is cancelled.

Pay only into a bank account opened in the clinic's name, and check the bank details against the official presupuesto form. If you are trying to cover part of the cost in Georgia, we describe which authority to approach and in what order in the guide to funding for surgery.

Your stay in Spain and returning to Georgia

Part of treatment in Spain is often outpatient: during a reproductive cycle or a course of radiotherapy, the patient attends the clinic over days or weeks and spends the nights in their accommodation. In such cases choose accommodation close to the clinic, with a kitchen, and buy a return ticket with a flexible date. If understanding exactly what the doctor says is crucial, hire a medical interpreter on site; a family member's general Spanish is usually not enough for a consultation. The single EU emergency number is 112 in Spain too.

On discharge the clinic gives you a discharge report (informe de alta), in Spanish or, on request, in English. Your treating doctor in Georgia will need it in Georgian, and at the pharmacy prescriptions will only be understood with international non-proprietary names, because Spanish brand names are often sold under different names here. So order the translation as soon as you return, and read the rules for bringing medicines from Spain in the guide to carrying medicines when travelling. If a medicine prescribed in Spain is not registered in Georgia, or you need special care at home, our post-operative care service can help.

Follow-up tests are usually done in Georgia, and the results are sent in translation to the Spanish doctor. Agree this arrangement with the clinic in advance, before you travel: whom you will write to, in what form, and how quickly they will reply.

Frequently asked questions about treatment in Spain