Public free health care for British people

If you are just going to visit for holidays you will not be able to register with the state health system. You can use your GHIC (was EHIC) for emergency treatment at state hospitals. You should have comprehensive travel heanth insurance and can then get treatment at a doctor approved by the insurer. You will have to pay full price for prescriptions.

If you move over full time as part of the process you will have to have health insurance (with no conditions or exceptions) anyway, as well as a medical report saying you do not have certain conditions and diseases, paying for a Non-lucrative visa, and fit strict conditions on income, and possibly a police report to prove you are a fit citizen.

There is no public "free" health care in Spain! The Spanish health-care system is contributory based, so only those who pay into it or have paid into it up to their retirement can use it. British citizens who are long-term Spanish residents and who are in receipt of a UK state pension also have their health-care supplied by Spain but paid for by the British government, using the S1 form. All new applications for Spanish residency must be accompanied by proof of private healthcare insurance. If you are planning on buying a holiday home, then you should know that you will be limited to the time that you can spend in Spain, now that the UK is a third country. No more coming for 6 months over winter as previously was permitted but you can spend 90 days in every 180 days on a rolling basis or one month here and one month in the UK etc.  You can use your GHIC/EHIC card for emergency heath care treatments but you should also take out travel insurance to cover all eventualities.

Many thanks for your response.  

We would only look for health care in an emergency, such as needing to attend or stay in hospital.  I wondered if it would be available or whether we would need to attend a private hospital.  My query is just around urgent care as not sure what to expect.

In an emergency you go to the nearest A&E and take your GHIC / travel insurance if on holiday here. The hospitals are very good and very thorough with tests and diagnosis and treatment if that's what you're concerned about . I've used the public hospitals a lot and they have been fantastic.

 If its not an emergency and you need to see a doctor then you would contact your travel insurance company and they would usually send you to the nearest local private provider or you would see a private doctor  pay for it and claim the costs back. Depends on your policy. 

Travel insurance won't usually cover the costs if the claim is for an existing condition, unless it has been included in the policy.

Many thanks for your response. Unfortunately I don't think we would be able to get cover for pre-existing condition hence my concern about available health care.  I think that maybe we need to rethink about being able to have a holiday home.  Thank you again.