Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Health
The
European Health Insurance Card
gives EU citizens access to Spanish state public
health services under reciprocal agreements. While this will provide free or reduced-cost
medical care in the event of minor injuries and emergencies, it won't cover every eventuality
-anditonlyappliestoEUcitizensinpossessionofthecard-sotravel
insurance
isessential.
For minor health complaints look for the green cross of a
pharmacy
(
farmàcia
), where
highly trained staff can give advice (often in English), and are able to dispense many drugs
(includingsomeantibiotics)availableonlyonprescriptioninothercountries.Usualhoursare
weekdays 9am-1pm and 4-8pm. At least one in each neighbourhood is open daily 24 hours
(and marked as such), or phone 010 for information on those open out of hours - Farma-
cia Clapies, Ramblas 98, Liceu ( 933 012 843,
farmaciaclapes.com
)
is a convenient
24-hourpharmacy.Alistofout-of-hourspharmaciescanalsobefoundinthewindowofeach
pharmacy store.
Anylocal
healthcarecentre
(Centred'AtencióPrimària,CAP)canprovidenon-emergency
assistance. In the old town, there's one at Ptge. Pau 1, Barri Gòtic, Drassanes ( 933 425
549), and another at c/del Rec Comtal 24, Sant Pere, Arc de Triomf ( 933 101 421); both
are open Monday to Friday 8am-8pm, Saturday 9am-5pm. Alternatively, call 010 or con-
sult
bcn.cat
for a full list.
For emergency hospital treatment, call 061 or go to one of the following
central hospit-
als
, which have 24hr accident and emergency (
urgències
) services.
HOSPITALS
Centre Perecamps
Av. Drassanes 13-15, El Raval 934 410 600; Drassanes.
HospitalCliniciProvincial
c/de Villaroel 170, Eixample 932 275 400; Hospital Clin-
ic.
Hospital del Mar
Pg. Maritím 25-29, Vila Olímpica 932 483 000; Ciutadella-Vila
Olímpica.
HospitaldelaSantaCreuiSantPau
c/de Sant Antoni Maria Claret 167, Eixample 932
919 000; Hospital de Sant Pau.
Insurance
You should take out a comprehensive
insurance policy
before travelling to Barcelona, to
cover against loss, theft, illness or injury. A typical policy will provide cover for loss of bag-
gage, tickets and - up to a certain limit - cash or travellers' cheques, as well as cancellation
or curtailment of your journey. With medical coverage you should ascertain whether bene-
fits will be paid as treatment proceeds or only after you return home, and whether there is a
24-hour medical emergency number. When securing baggage cover, make sure that the per-
