About Moving to Spain – Spanish Dentists and Farmacias

Dentists in Spain

When moving to Spain you will find that Spanish Dental Practitioners are usually excellent. There are many working in towns, cities and many health centres in villages throughout Spain. You can find a long list of dentists (dentistas) by looking in the Spanish Yellow Pages (Paginas Amarillas) or simply by asking your neighbours or looking along your local town street. In fact, you will often find a dentist in the large Spanish supermarkets.

You will often find much better dental care in Spain than with NHS dentists in the UK. However, Dentists in Spain are not part of the Spanish National Health Service with regards payment. They often work within the Spanish health system, but when it comes to paying them, they are paid as private practitioners. Nevertheless, the cost of private dental treatment in Spain is considerably lower than in the UK and compares well to NHS charges.

You can get emergency dental treatment in Spain at your local hospital, but expats have had mixed reactions to the practitioners who work in the Spanish dental emergency profession, but this, I suggest, is not different from reactions to emergency dental treatment in the UK.

If you prefer, you can go to a private Spanish dentist for your treatment. You can find many private practitioners in most Spanish Cities and large towns. It will cost you a little more than at your local health clinic, but prices are still lower than in the UK.

Spanish Farmacias (Chemists)

When moving to Spain, one of the first things you will notice is the abundance of Farmacias. You will notice them by the large green crosses displayed outside (many with additions of time and local temperature). You can find farmacias on most major streets in large Spanish cities and at least one in almost every town and large village in Spain. Even if you live in a remote Spanish village, you should be able to get to a farmacia without too much difficulty. In many ways they are the backbone of the Spanish health service.

The law in Spain states that farmacias must operate on a rota system so that there is always one open. Your local Spanish press will carry details of the duty farmacia. Details are also posted on the door of the farmacias and often outside your local town hall.

Spanish farmacias will give you basic medical advice and prescribe some forms of medication as they are trained to do so.

When you move to Spain, what you will also notice about Spanish farmacias is that they dispense many medicines without prescription which are not available under the same terms in the UK. For instance, if you arrive in Spain and have forgotten to reapply for a prescription for an inhaler or for birth control pills, if you take the item along to your local farmacia, they can often either find the medication for you, or find a medication very similar. Antibiotics are also usually dispensed by the Spanish farmacia without prescription as are some forms of pain killers which are not available without prescription in the UK.

If you suffer from any health problems, it is most advisable to consult your doctor before you move to Spain. He or she can give you a prescription to cover you for your first month in Spain at least, and can also write down the generic name of the medication you are taking, so that you can show this to the Spanish farmacia and local doctor and the Spanish equivalent can be found quickly. It is also advisable to take old copies of your prescriptions with you when you move to Spain, so that these can also be referred to by the farmacia if necessary.

The cost of medication in Spain is usually lower than in the UK when sold privately by the farmacia, and if you are registered under the Spanish Social Security system, you can take along your prescription and get a substantial discount on the cost (or pay nothing if you are a pensioner).

Alternative Health Care in Spain

There are also alternative chemists such as Chinese clinics and herbal clinics. They are rapidly growing in popularity and most of them speak English. If you look along the streets of most Spanish cities and some major towns, you should find a range of alternative health practitioners.

Overall, when moving to Spain you will find that the healthcare here is excellent and offers you a variety of choices. So, as long as you make sure you are prepared with paperwork or private insurance, you should find no problems here. And so you can get on with all the good things about moving to Spain, without worrying about how you will deal with your health.

Moving to Spain - Mañana

I guess that, if you are serious about moving to Spain, then you will have read that life in Spain is slow and this is true in many senses.

The heat during the long Spanish summers ensures that things are never done at a rush. The siesta period (usually from about 12noon/1.30pm until around 4/5.30pm) is essential. When you first move to Spain you will find that you can do very little between those hours as the heat can be exhausting. It is then you will have great respect for the Spanish Siesta.

However, siesta time means that nearly all work in Spain comes to a halt and things can be delayed as a result. Work begins again after siesta and continues until around 8 or 9pm, but to the expat, newly living in Spain, this can seem like time wasted.

If you want work done on your Spanish renovation project, you may find that your builders work through part of the siesta to save daylight hours, but delivery drivers, electricians, surveyors, telephone engineers or any other service you may call upon will not. This can be very frustrating for someone unused to Spanish culture and who wants to get on with living their life in the sun as quickly as possible, as everything in Spain can appear to move in slow motion.

And when you couple this with the Spanish 'mañana', the new expat can find their patience driven to the limits.

It is likely that many people studying the Spanish language will assume that mañana means 'tomorrow'. Well yes, it does, but the term also means an awful lot more.

When, for example, you call a plumber or a telephone engineer, you will most likely be told that they will call 'mañana'. Don't hold your breath. There is an old saying 'tomorrow never comes'. People living in Spain don't exactly mean that when they tell you 'mañana', nevertheless, it can be a long time coming.

When moving to Spain you have to be prepared to live with this. Getting upset when you've waited in all day for the plumber to arrive will only get you stressed. And your Spanish telephone engineer will definitely be arriving at your villa 'mañana', but it may not be tomorrow. It could be next week or next month. Take a guess... And it is quite often not the fault of the Spanish worker. He could be waiting for special materials to arrive so that he can do his work. And he will have been told these will arrive 'mañana'.

The word 'mañana' can be as frustrating to Spanish people as to those who move to Spain. The difference is that they tend to shrug their shoulders and except this. The only way an expat can cope is to do exactly the same.

And in some ways the culture of 'mañana' is to be recommended. After all, when you planned on moving to Spain one of the things that probably attracted you was the slower pace of life here. So remember this when you are told something will be done 'mañana'.

And while you are waiting, why not go and soak up the spanish sunshine and try not to get too stressed?