I have lived in Spain for a year.  Myself, my husband and 2 children have our European Health Cards so we can get emergency treatment.  My new son however was born in Spain, but I can’t get him any healthcare.  We are living off savings and therefore have no social security number, so I can’t put him on the system.  I can’t get him a European Health card from the UK as he is not registered there.  The Spanish law says that all children have the right to healthcare but no one seems to have any idea how to get it.  My health centre sent me to the social worker, who sent me to the Dept of social security, who sent me to the Dept of Health who sent me back to my doctor.  As he has no foreigner number I can’t even register him with the doctor so I can’t even get him an emergency appointment.  I have paid for his first set of injections, but he hasn’t had any of the regular check ups a baby should have.  Does any one know what to do - I am at my wits end getting passed from pillar to post and no one seems to know or care what I should do.  Please Help!!!!!

Actually the problem stems from the fact that you?re not paying your contributions towards the ?seguridad social?, because; as you say you?re not working in Spain.  Just as a side note the EHIC does not entitle you to live in Spain and receive medical treatment as if you were in the UK.  So effectively your whole family is at risk.  If you do not have a Spanish social security number then your best option is to go private.  For emergency cases you should have the E106 forms for all your family members.

One solution would be to register as an ?aut?nomo? and pay the contributions to ?seguridad social?.

What the Spanish Government doesn’t tell us is that EVERY child regardless of whether their parents are paying into the system or not, is entitled to health care under European law.  We can’t afford to pay into the system as we are living off savings, the Spanish KNOW that children are entitled to health care but they are refusing to tell people this and making you jump through all sorts of hoops to get it.  The social worker here said he is entitled to health care but even she isn’t sure how to get him on the system.  I know as a Spanish citizen my son is entitled to free healtch care, as are my other children, but no one is willing to tell me how to get it.

Don Carlos - 21 August 2007 10:59 AM

Actually the problem stems from the fact that you?re not paying your contributions towards the ?seguridad social?, because; as you say you?re not working in Spain.  Just as a side note the EHIC does not entitle you to live in Spain and receive medical treatment as if you were in the UK.  So effectively your whole family is at risk.  If you do not have a Spanish social security number then your best option is to go private.  For emergency cases you should have the E106 forms for all your family members.

One solution would be to register as an ?aut?nomo? and pay the contributions to ?seguridad social?.

Yes, I misunderstood your original question.  I would have thought that the first thing that you need to do is to find the EU directive that states that every child regardless of whether their parents are paying into the system or not, is entitled to health care under European law.  Once you?ve found that, locate the Spanish equivalent and raise the question with the Ministro de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales to see where the service, in question, that is being provided differs from what actually is provided.

Hi Carrie,
Yes I’ve read in various places that all women are entitled to both pre and post natal care in Spain, but I’m not suprised that you are having problems. I wouldn’t think however that the people you have talked with are ‘not willing to tell you how to get it’. Rather that they themselves don’t even know how the system works -something that happens again and again with beaurocracy in Spain. It seems it depends on where you are, which office (or health center) you go to, who you speak to, and what time of day it is!
Have you tried simply asking at a different health center? armed with print out of these promises of post natal care from the web page of your comunidad (I live in Madrid and know that that infomation appears on their website).
Maybe it would be easier to go back to UK register your child and obtain the health card that way?(the devil you know)
Ojo: You say that your son is a Spanish citizen. Babies born in Spain to foreigners don’t have instant right to citizenship. One year after your baby’s birth if you can prove that you and your partner were living here legally you can apply for citizenship….but that’s a whole different thread!!

Good luck