Sanitas Health Insurance in Spain: The 2026 Guide

Of all the private health insurers operating in Spain, only one is owned by a British company, only one runs a product line called International Residents, and only one has built its entire telemedicine app to work in English: Sanitas. If you are a foreigner living in Spain, or planning to be one, this guide is for you.

Best Sanitas health insurance for foreigners  

 

Best overall pick

From 64,69 €/month

 

Sanitas Más Salud

• No copay
• Visa-compliant
• Hospitalization & surgery
• High-tech diagnostic tests
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Blua telemedicine in English
• Subscribable up to age 75

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Designed for expats

From 102,60 €/month

 

International Residents 150.000

• No copay
• Visa-compliant
• 80% reimbursement worldwide
• Reimbursement limit: €150.000/year
• Full Spanish network access
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Repatriation guarantee

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Best for families

From 65,77 €/month

 

Sanitas Más Salud Familias

• No copay
• Visa-compliant
• 20 psychology sessions/year
• Family assistance services
• Hospitalization & surgery
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Subscribable up to age 75

Get my quote

Sanitas is part of BUPA, the UK-headquartered international health and care group, which makes it the most culturally familiar Spanish insurer for British, Irish, Australian, and South African expats. It also has the most extensive English-language support layer of any major Spanish insurer, an owned hospital network in Madrid, Barcelona and other major cities, and policies specifically designed for non-EU residents who need to satisfy Spanish visa requirements.

This guide is written for you — the British retiree weighing up Costa Blanca vs Costa del Sol, the American family arriving on a non-lucrative visa, the German freelancer setting up as autónomo in Valencia, the Dutch graduate student starting a master's at IE Madrid. We will walk through every Sanitas health insurance product currently on sale, explain what each one really covers, what it actually costs by age and family situation, and which one fits your case best. All product names and prices in this article are pulled directly from Selectra's live insurance database, which mirrors the Sanitas commercial catalogue.

If you would rather have someone interpret the catalogue for your specific situation, that is exactly what we do at Selectra. Our expat health insurance team advises in English, completely free of charge — we compare Sanitas against the rest of the Spanish market, recommend what genuinely fits your age, family, and visa requirements, and handle the paperwork if you decide to subscribe.

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Specialist advisors for the Spanish insurance market

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Why Sanitas Matters Particularly for Foreigners in Spain

If you ask ten expats in Spain which insurer they have, the answer is almost always Sanitas or Adeslas. The two have been splitting the foreign market for decades, but they are not interchangeable. Three things make Sanitas the natural first choice for most foreigners.

1. Sanitas is owned by BUPA UK. BUPA acquired Sanitas in 1989 and operates it as the cornerstone of its European health business. For British expats, that link matters: the brand is recognisable, the corporate culture is familiar, and the customer-facing systems have been deliberately built to a standard that international clients expect. For Americans, Australians, and others who recognise BUPA from international health insurance, the same applies.
2. Sanitas has the most developed English-language customer service in the Spanish market. The call centre has English-speaking agents, the Mi Sanitas app works in English, and the Blua telemedicine platform supports English video consultations. This is not perfect — paper communication and some specialist scheduling still happen in Spanish — but it is the closest any Spanish insurer comes to a fully bilingual experience. Adeslas, DKV and Asisa are all primarily Spanish-language operations.
3. Sanitas sells products designed specifically for foreigners. The International Residents line, the International Students plan, and the broader Más Salud range all include features (international validity, repatriation cover, USA cover on premium plans) that other insurers either do not offer or charge extra for. We will go into each of these in detail below.

The trade-off is that Sanitas's medical network — though substantial — is smaller than Adeslas's. If you live in a small inland town in Castilla, Aragón or rural Murcia, you may find that Adeslas has more local doctors. In every other context, including all major cities, the Mediterranean coast, the Balearics and the Canary Islands, Sanitas has more than enough providers and the practical experience is generally smoother for non-Spanish speakers.

Sanitas International Residents: The plan designed for you

If you take one thing away from this article, take this: Sanitas is the only major Spanish insurer with a product line literally branded for foreign residents. The line has two policies, and between them they cover almost every expat situation that is not retirement-age.

Sanitas International Residents

For foreigners in Spain

From 102,60 €/month

International Residents 150.000

• No copay
• Reimbursement limit: €150.000
• Reimbursement: 80%
• Primary care
• Specialist consultations
• High-tech diagnostic tests
• Therapeutic treatments
• Hospitalization & surgery
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Repatriation guarantee

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For foreigners in Spain

From 112,75 €/month

International Residents 300.000

• No copay
• Reimbursement limit: €300.000
• Reimbursement: 80%
• Primary care
• Specialist consultations
• High-tech diagnostic tests
• Therapeutic treatments
• Hospitalization & surgery
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Repatriation guarantee

Get my quote

Both products are mixed plans — also called reimbursement plans — which combine two distinct ways of accessing care:

• Inside Spain, you use Sanitas's full medical network (over 4.500 medical centres, more than 58.000 healthcare professionals) like any normal Sanitas patient. No co-pays, no waiting periods, no questions asked.
• Outside Spain — or with any doctor of your choosing in Spain, you pay the bill yourself and Sanitas reimburses 80% of it, up to an annual ceiling of €150.000 (the cheaper plan) or €300.000 (the upgraded one) per insured person.

This combination is exactly what most foreigners need. It means you can use the cuadro médico in Spain when convenient, see your trusted GP in your home country during summer visits, get a second opinion at a London or New York specialist if a serious condition emerges, or simply pick an English-speaking private doctor outside the Sanitas network when you live in a less expat-friendly area.

Visa-compliance. Both International Residents plans are zero-copay and complete-coverage, which means they pass the requirements for the Spanish non-lucrative visa (NLV), the digital nomad visa (DNV), the golden visa, and family reunification visas. Sanitas issues the visa-compliance certificate (certificado para visado) on request, normally within 24–48 hours, in English if you ask for it.

What is the difference between the 150.000 and the 300.000 versions? Only the annual reimbursement ceiling. €150.000/year is more than enough for the vast majority of expats — even a major surgery in a private US hospital would typically come in under that. Pick the 300.000 version if you specifically anticipate heavy international care (a complex chronic condition, a planned overseas surgery, or you live half the year in two countries with high medical costs).

The full Sanitas health insurance catalogue in 2026

Sanitas sells 19 health insurance products in Spain — by some distance the most diverse catalogue of any insurer in the country. Broadly, they group into five families:

• Comprehensive plans ("Más Salud"): for residents, families, and individuals.
• Reimbursement / mixed plans ("Más 90.000", "Mundi", "Premium 500.000", "International Residents"): top-tier policies with international validity.
• Self-employed plans ("Profesionales"): for autónomos, freelancers, and digital nomads.
• Senior plans ("Único"): for over-60s, no medical questionnaire required.
• Student and entry-level plans ("Estudiantes", "International Students", "Accede", "Avanza"): for young adults, students, and budget-conscious users.

Here is the complete catalogue, sorted by entry price.

Basic insurance

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Comprehensive

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Throughout this guide, "from" prices refer to the cheapest profile Sanitas sells the policy to. Real prices depend on age, postal code and medical questionnaire. For more realistic pricing, see the profile-by-profile breakdowns later in this article.

Decoding the Spanish Health Insurance Vocabulary

Before we go plan by plan, four concepts you will see everywhere in this article and on the Sanitas website. Knowing them upfront will save you ten minutes of guessing at every step.

1️⃣ Cuadro médico — the network of doctors, hospitals, and clinics Sanitas has under contract. With cuadro médico policies (Más Salud, Más Salud Plus, Más Salud Familias, etc.), you can only use providers inside the Sanitas network. With reembolso (reimbursement) policies (Más 90.000, International Residents, Mundi, Premium 500.000), you can also use any doctor outside the network and Sanitas reimburses you a percentage of the bill.

2️⃣ Copago (co-pay) — a small fee, typically between €1 and €15, that you pay each time you use a service. A "low copay" Sanitas policy charges €1–4 for a GP visit; a "high copay" policy charges €10+. No-copay policies cost more upfront, but you pay nothing per visit. If you anticipate using the insurance more than 3–4 times a month — typical for chronic conditions, families with young children, or anyone over 60 — the no-copay plans pay for themselves quickly.

3️⃣ Carencias (waiting periods) — periods after subscription during which certain services are not yet covered. Standard at Sanitas: surgery and complex procedures have a 6-month waiting period, childbirth 8 months, assisted reproduction 12 months. Routine GP, basic specialists, and standard diagnostics generally have no waiting period. For Spanish visa applications, your insurer must confirm in writing that there are no waiting periods (sin carencias) for the visa-relevant coverages. Sanitas issues this certificate on request, in English if needed.

4️⃣ Cuestionario de salud (medical questionnaire) — most Sanitas plans require you to declare your medical history before they accept you. Pre-existing conditions can lead to exclusions or surcharges. Three Sanitas plans are sold without a medical questionnaire: Sanitas Único (over-60s), Sanitas Mundi, and Sanitas Premium 500.000. This is unusually generous compared to other Spanish insurers.

Sanitas for Spanish Visa Applications

If you are applying for a Spanish residency visa from outside the EU — whether that is the non-lucrative visa (NLV), the digital nomad visa (DNV), the golden visa, a student visa longer than 6 months, or a family reunification visa — you must prove that you have private health insurance that meets four criteria:

1. Full coverage, equivalent to what the Spanish public system offers.
2. No co-payments at the point of use.
3. No waiting periods (or with the carencias formally waived in writing).
4. Valid in Spain for the entire duration of the visa.

Of all the Sanitas plans, seven comfortably tick every box for visa purposes:

Best Sanitas health insurance for VISA  

 

Comprehensive plan

From 64,69 €/month

 

Sanitas Más Salud

• No copay
• Primary care
• Specialist consultations
• High-tech diagnostic tests
• Hospitalization & surgery
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Subscribable up to age 75

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For families

From 65,77 €/month

 

Sanitas Más Salud Familias

• No copay
• Full family-oriented coverage
• 20 psychology sessions/year
• Family assistance services
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Subscribable up to age 75

Get my quote

For foreigners in Spain

From 102,60 €/month

 

International Residents 150.000

• No copay
• Reimbursement: €150.000/year
• 80% reimbursement worldwide
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Repatriation guarantee

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Beyond the three above, the rest of the visa-compliant Sanitas line-up:

• Sanitas Más 90.000 Sin copago (€103,12/month from) — same network as Más Salud, but with reimbursement (€90.000/year ceiling), USA cover and 50-treatment dental.
• Sanitas International Residents 300.000 (€112,75/month from) — same as the 150.000 version but with the reimbursement ceiling lifted to €300.000/year.
• Sanitas Mundi (price on request, no medical questionnaire) — premium reimbursement plan with global validity.
• Sanitas Premium 500.000 (price on request, no medical questionnaire) — Sanitas's top-tier offer, with a €500.000/year reimbursement ceiling, 50-treatment dental cover, USA cover, and pharmacy reimbursement.

Which Visa-Compliant Sanitas Plan Should You Pick?

For most NLV and DNV applicants, the choice comes down to whether you want international reimbursement:

• If you plan to live in Spain full-time and use only Spanish doctors: Sanitas Más Salud (€64,69/month from) is the value champion. No copay, complete coverage, the same network as the more expensive plans, dental included, subscribable up to age 75. For a young family of three, it comes in around €206/month.
• If you plan to spend significant time in your home country, or want the option of seeing English-speaking specialists outside the Sanitas network: Sanitas International Residents 150.000 (€102,60/month from) is the natural pick. The reimbursement option means your trip back to your old GP in London, Berlin or Sydney is covered.
• If you want top-tier flexibility and budget is not the constraint: Sanitas Premium 500.000 (price on request, no medical questionnaire). Highest reimbursement ceilings, USA cover, and zero underwriting friction.

Note one thing many expats miss: Sanitas Más Salud subscribes up to age 75, while Adeslas's equivalent caps at 70 and the International Residents range caps at 64. For older applicants, Sanitas's age windows are unusually generous.

Sanitas for British Retirees Post-Brexit

Brexit changed the rules for British nationals retiring to Spain. If you became a Spanish resident before 31 December 2020, you fall under the Withdrawal Agreement and your S1 form gives you access to the Spanish public health system. Many in this group still take a Sanitas policy on top, to skip waiting lists for non-urgent specialists and to access the Sanitas Hospitales network. If you arrive after Brexit, the GHIC does not work for residency — only for short visits — and you have two practical paths:

1. Convenio Especial — pay the Spanish public system a monthly fee (€60 if you are under 65, €157 if you are over 65) to access it. Does not cover prescriptions, and waiting lists are the same as for any Spanish citizen.
2. Private health insurance — typically Sanitas or Adeslas. This is what most British retirees pick because it sidesteps waiting lists, gives faster access to specialists, and (in the case of Sanitas) allows for English-language administrative interactions.

For UK retirees specifically, three Sanitas plans cover almost every age and budget combination.

If You Are Under 65 and Healthy

Sanitas Más Salud is the default choice. €64,69/month at entry, around €181/month at age 65, no copay, complete hospital cover, dental included, subscribable up to your 75th birthday. The British expat community on the Costa Blanca uses this plan more than any other.

Best Sanitas health if you are under 65  

 

Comprehensive no copay

From 64,69 €/month

 

Sanitas Más Salud

• No copay
• Visa-compliant
• Hospitalization & surgery
• High-tech diagnostic tests
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Blua telemedicine in English
• Subscribable up to age 75

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If You Are 60+ and Want a Plan With No Medical Questionnaire

Sanitas Único (€46,40/month from, around €53,40 at typical retirement ages) is unique in the Spanish market: it has no upper age limit, no medical questionnaire, and no exclusions for pre-existing conditions. This makes it the only Sanitas product available to people who are already 75+ or who have significant pre-existing conditions that would otherwise lead to exclusions.

For old foreigners in Spain

From 46,40 €/month

Único

• Medium copay
• Primary care
• Specialist consultations
• Diagnostic tests (simple only + ultrasound + CT and MRI scans)
• Simple therapeutic treatments
• Basic dental coverage
• No health questionnaire

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The trade-offs are real. Sanitas Único is a basic plan — it covers primary care, all outpatient specialists, and high-tech diagnostics, but it does not include hospitalisation. It is also a copay plan (medium level). It is best understood as a "fast access to specialists" supplement on top of your S1, Convenio Especial, or public-system entitlement, rather than a primary policy you depend on for surgery.

For retirees who want full hospital cover and have a clean medical history, Sanitas Más Salud is the better fit even if a few questionnaire questions are uncomfortable. For retirees with serious pre-existing conditions or those over the Más Salud cap, Sanitas Único is often the only Spanish private insurance you will be able to subscribe to.

The Age 64 Cliff for Reimbursement Plans

Sanitas's reimbursement plans (Más 90.000, International Residents 150.000/300.000, Mundi, Premium 500.000) all cap subscription at age 64. If you arrive in Spain at 65 or older and want international reimbursement, your only Sanitas option is to subscribe to Más Salud and accept that international care will not be reimbursed unless it is an emergency covered by the standard travel-assistance limit (€12.000).

Sanitas International Residents

For foreigners in Spain

From 102,60 €/month

International Residents 150.000

• No copay
• Reimbursement limit: €150.000
• Reimbursement: 80%
• Primary care
• Specialist consultations
• High-tech diagnostic tests
• Therapeutic treatments
• Hospitalization & surgery
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Repatriation guarantee

Get my quote

For foreigners in Spain

From 112,75 €/month

International Residents 300.000

• No copay
• Reimbursement limit: €300.000
• Reimbursement: 80%
• Primary care
• Specialist consultations
• High-tech diagnostic tests
• Therapeutic treatments
• Hospitalization & surgery
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Repatriation guarantee

Get my quote

This is one specific scenario where a comparison with another insurer helps. For older applicants who specifically need international reimbursement, DKV Mundicare and Allianz Reembolso both subscribe slightly older than Sanitas. Talk to a broker before committing.

Sanitas for Digital Nomads and Self-Employed Foreigners

If you are working as an autónomo in Spain — which is what most digital nomads end up doing once their tax residency moves to Spain — Sanitas has three plans designed specifically for self-employed and small-business clients. All three include extras like home help during hospitalisation, traffic-accident cover, and accidental-death indemnity that the consumer plans do not have.

Best Sanitas insurance for self-employed  

 

Self-Employed

From 37,60 €/month

 

Sanitas Profesionales Óptima

• Medium copay
• Hospitalisation included
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Home help during hospitalisation
• Tax-deductible up to €500/year

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Self-Employed

From 49,60 €/month

 

Sanitas Profesionales Plus

• Low copay
• Hospitalisation included
• Basic dental cover
• Home help during hospitalisation
• Tax-deductible up to €500/year

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Self-Employed

From 78,20 €/month

 

Sanitas Profesionales

• No copay
• Hospitalisation included
• Dental cover (30 treatments)
• Home help during hospitalisation
• Subscribable up to age 75
• Tax-deductible up to €500/year

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The three Profesionales plans differ mainly on copay structure:

• Profesionales Óptima (€37,60/month from) — medium copay, complete coverage. The cheapest entry into Sanitas's self-employed range.
• Profesionales Plus (€49,60/month from) — low copay. The middle option.
• Profesionales (€78,20/month from) — no copay. Visa-compliant if you need an autónomo policy that satisfies a residency visa.

All three are tax-deductible up to €500/year per insured person (€1.500 if you have an accredited disability) against your IRPF, which makes them de facto cheaper than they look on the price list. Your gestor or accountant can tell you exactly how much you can deduct against your annual tax declaration.

For digital nomads who travel internationally, Sanitas International Residents 150.000 is often a smarter pick than Profesionales — even if you lose the autónomo-specific tax break. The reimbursement option means a doctor visit during a work trip back to your home country is covered up to €150.000/year. From €102,60/month for a 30-year-old young professional, this is the policy that keeps you covered no matter where the work takes you.

Sanitas for Families: How Much Does It Actually Cost?

Family pricing is where the headline numbers and the real numbers diverge most. The "from €X" figure is for one healthy young adult; with a partner and children, the maths changes significantly. Here are real Sanitas premiums by family profile, starting price as of the 2026 catalogue.

Three practical observations for foreign families:

• First, Sanitas Más Salud Familias is genuinely better value than plain Más Salud for families. €182,27/month for a young family of three vs €206,28 — and the Familias version adds 20 psychology sessions per year per insured person (which matters more than expats anticipate, especially in the first year of moving) and family-assistance services. The single-individual version of Más Salud is technically cheaper, but for families, Familias is the right choice.
• Second, Más Salud Familias Plus is the smart pick if you can accept a low copay. €146,73/month for a young family of three — €36 cheaper than Más Salud Familias — in exchange for paying €1–4 per visit. If you do not anticipate using the policy heavily, the savings are real. If you have a young child who will see the paediatrician often, the no-copay Familias plan is worth the extra.
• Third, Sanitas Accede is striking value at €80,10/month for a young family of three — but it is outpatient-only (no hospitalisation), high copay, and not visa-compliant. It is a good supplementary policy on top of public-system access. It is not a good primary policy.

Sanitas Blua: The English Telemedicine Advantage

The single most under-discussed advantage Sanitas has over its competitors is Blua, its digital-health platform. Included free with most Sanitas policies, Blua gives you:

• Unlimited video consultations with GPs and the most-used specialties (paediatrics, gynaecology, dermatology, psychology, cardiology, etc.) — typically with same-day or next-day availability.
• Chat-based medical advice with a GP at any time of day or night.
• Digital prescriptions issued through the platform and dispensable at any Spanish pharmacy.
• Health programmes and follow-up consultations for chronic conditions, weight management, smoking cessation, and so on.

For foreigners specifically, Blua matters for two reasons. First, the app and platform interface work in English, and you can request English-speaking doctors for video consultations — which lifts a huge weight off anyone whose Spanish is not yet conversational. Second, video consultations let you bypass the awkward step of finding an English-speaking specialist near your specific town: most Sanitas towns have plenty of doctors in the network, but English-speaking ones are concentrated in the major cities. Blua effectively gives every Sanitas client access to the English-speaking specialists in Madrid and Barcelona, no matter where in Spain they live.

This is not a unique-to-Sanitas concept — most insurers now have telemedicine apps — but the breadth of Blua, the quality of its English-language operation, and the fact that it is included free with most consumer plans is genuinely a step ahead of the competition.

Sanitas Hospitales: The Owned-Network Advantage

Unlike Adeslas, which works exclusively through a contracted network of independent providers, Sanitas owns and operates its own hospitals. The Sanitas Hospitales network includes Hospital Universitario La Moraleja and Hospital Virgen del Mar in Madrid, CIMA Sanitas Hospital in Barcelona, and several day-surgery centres around Spain.

Why does this matter for an expat?

• Quality control. Sanitas-owned hospitals run to a single internal standard. The doctor you see at La Moraleja in Madrid follows the same protocols as the doctor at CIMA in Barcelona. This consistency is harder to guarantee in a network of independent providers.
• Faster scheduling. Sanitas can prioritise its own clients in its own hospitals more easily than it can in a third-party hospital, which means non-urgent surgery and specialist appointments tend to be quicker for Sanitas clients than for clients of insurers without owned infrastructure.
• English-speaking concentration. Sanitas's owned hospitals, especially La Moraleja and CIMA, have a higher concentration of English-speaking medical and administrative staff than the average network hospital. If you live in or near Madrid or Barcelona, this is a significant practical advantage.

The flip side: outside of Madrid and Barcelona, Sanitas's owned-hospital advantage disappears, and the comparison reverts to network breadth (where Adeslas tends to win). If you are settling in Valencia, Málaga, Bilbao, Seville or smaller cities, Sanitas Hospitales does not give you much extra — though Sanitas's network in those cities is still very strong.

The Budget Tier: Sanitas Accede, Avanza and Único

If price is your primary constraint, Sanitas has three entry-level options.

Cheapest Sanitas health insurance  

 

Basic plan

From 21,30 €/month

 

Sanitas Accede

• Primary care
• Specialist consultations
• High-tech diagnostic tests
• Blua telemedicine in English
• Basic dental cover
• Subscribable up to age 59

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Basic plan

From 32,40 €/month

 

Sanitas Avanza

• Primary care
• Specialist consultations
• High-tech diagnostic tests
• Blua telemedicine in English
• Basic dental cover
• Subscribable up to age 59

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For Seniors 60+

From 46,40 €/month

 

Sanitas Único

• No medical questionnaire
• No upper age limit
• Primary care
• Specialist consultations
• High-tech diagnostic tests
• Basic dental cover
• Subscribable from age 60

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Sanitas Accede (from €21,30/month)

The cheapest health insurance Sanitas sells. Outpatient only — no hospitalisation, no surgery, no childbirth — with high copay and a maximum subscription age of 59. It does include Blua telemedicine and basic dental cover, which makes it an interesting "fast access to specialists" supplement on top of public-system access. Not visa-compliant.

Sanitas Avanza (from €32,40/month)

A step up from Accede: still outpatient-only, but with medium copay (so cheaper per visit) and slightly broader coverage. Same age cap of 59. Not visa-compliant.

Sanitas Único (from €46,40/month)

The interesting one. Sanitas Único is sold only to people aged 60+, with no upper age limit and no medical questionnaire. This makes it the only mainstream Spanish private insurance available to people who would otherwise be excluded by age or pre-existing conditions. The trade-offs are real: it is a basic plan (no hospitalisation), with medium copay, and only outpatient services. Treat it as a fast-access supplement to your public entitlement, not as a primary insurance.

How to Subscribe to Sanitas as a Foreigner

The process is more streamlined than expats often expect, and Sanitas's foreign-client onboarding is the smoothest in the Spanish market. There are still a few specific points where being a non-resident foreigner adds friction.

Documents you will need:

1. NIE (Número de Identificación de Extranjero) — your Spanish foreigner ID. Sanitas can technically accept a passport for the initial quote, but they will not formalise the policy without an NIE.
2. Passport or TIE card.
3. Spanish bank account with IBAN — Sanitas debits the monthly premium directly. SEPA payments from a non-Spanish IBAN are technically possible but messier; if you are setting up in Spain anyway, just open a Spanish account first.
4. Spanish address — even a temporary rental address works.
5. Medical questionnaire (online or paper, in English on request). Be honest. Lying about pre-existing conditions is a contract-voiding offence and Sanitas will discover the truth at the worst possible moment, when you make your first significant claim. The exception: Sanitas Único, Mundi and Premium 500.000 are sold without a questionnaire.
6. For visa applications only: request the certificado para visado (visa-compliance certificate) once the policy is signed. Free of charge, available in English, and Sanitas usually emails it as a PDF within 24–48 hours.

How long does it take? With all documents in order, a Sanitas policy can be active within 48 hours. Allow a week if you also need the visa certificate, and longer if your medical questionnaire flags conditions that need underwriting review.

Where to subscribe? Three channels:

1. Sanitas direct (website, branches, phone). Sanitas's own customer service has English-speaking agents — the most expat-friendly direct channel of any Spanish insurer.
2. Selectra. Useful if you want a single bilingual point of contact who handles the paperwork, compares Sanitas against Adeslas/DKV/the rest of the market, and follows up with you across the year. Selectra earns a commission from the insurer when a policy is signed, so the price you pay is identical to going direct.

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Specialist advisors for the Spanish insurance market

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Co-pays at Sanitas: What "Low", "Medium" and "High" Actually Mean

Sanitas does not publish a public price list of co-pays per service, but the broad ranges in the catalogue work like this:

• Low co-pay (Más Salud Plus, Más Salud Familias Plus, Profesionales Plus): roughly €1–4 for GP and most specialists, €4–8 for diagnostics, €6–10 for ER.
• Medium co-pay (Más Salud Óptima, Profesionales Óptima, Más 90.000 Con copago, Avanza, Único): roughly €4–10 for specialists, €8–20 for high-tech imaging, €12–18 for ER.
• High co-pay (Sanitas Accede): roughly €10+ for specialists, €20+ for high-tech imaging.
• No co-pay (Más Salud, Más Salud Familias, Profesionales, Más 90.000 Sin copago, all International Residents plans, Mundi, Premium 500.000): zero per visit.

The exact numbers vary slightly by year and region, and your policy contract will list every co-pay precisely. As a rule of thumb: if you anticipate using the insurance more than 4–5 times a month (typical for a chronically-managed condition or a young child), the no-copay plans pay for themselves quickly.

Sanitas vs Adeslas vs DKV: a quick comparison for expats

For a fuller side-by-side view of the Spanish private health insurance market, see our ranking of the best private health insurance in Spain. The short version, focused on what matters to foreigners:

Sanitas (BUPA UK group). The most expat-friendly Spanish insurer in practice. Smoothest English-language customer service, most developed digital tools (Blua), owned hospital network in Madrid and Barcelona, and the only insurer with a product line specifically for foreign residents. Slightly more expensive than Adeslas at most price points and with a smaller medical network.

Adeslas (SegurCaixa Adeslas, Mutua Madrileña + CaixaBank). The largest private medical network in Spain. Cheaper than Sanitas at most price points and the better choice if you live in a smaller city or rural area where network breadth matters. Customer service is primarily Spanish-language.

Adeslas health insurances

DKV (Munich Re group). The German option. Excellent international claim handling and a well-regarded modular structure where you build your policy à la carte. Slightly more expensive than Sanitas at entry. Customer service available in English, German, and Spanish — the only insurer with first-class German support.

For most foreigners, the practical ranking by use case looks like this:

• For a British expat who values English-language service: Sanitas first, Adeslas second.
• For a foreigner who values network breadth and lives in a smaller city: Adeslas first, Sanitas second.
• For a German expat with frequent home visits: DKV first, Sanitas second.
• For someone whose top priority is the visa certificate, with no strong preference otherwise: Sanitas Más Salud or Sanitas International Residents — Sanitas's certificate process is the smoothest in the market, including English-language certificates.

Frequently Asked Questions

A Final, Honest Recommendation

If you are a foreigner moving to or already living in Spain and you are reading this article because you typed "sanitas health insurance" into Google, the chances are you are a few weeks away from a decision and you want a clear answer.

Here is one.

• For a healthy adult under 64 on a residency visa, who plans to use only Spanish doctors: Sanitas Más Salud. Best balance of price, coverage, and visa compliance. From €64,69/month, around €93,51 for a typical 48-year-old.
• For a foreigner who travels internationally or wants flexibility outside the Sanitas network: Sanitas International Residents 150.000. The product designed specifically for your situation. From €102,60/month.
• For a family with school-age children settling in Spain: Sanitas Más Salud Familias. Includes 20 psychology sessions per year and family-assistance services. Around €182/month for a young family of three.
• For a British retiree aged 60–75 with no major pre-existing conditions: Sanitas Más Salud. Around €181–197/month at typical retirement ages.
• For a retiree over 60 with significant pre-existing conditions or who is over the Más Salud cap: Sanitas Único. The only Spanish private insurance that subscribes you with no medical questionnaire and no upper age limit. From €46,40/month — but basic coverage only.
• For a digital nomad on the autónomo regime: Sanitas Profesionales (no copay, tax-deductible) or Sanitas International Residents 150.000 if you travel a lot.
• For someone who wants the absolute top tier and budget is not the constraint: Sanitas Premium 500.000. No medical questionnaire, highest reimbursement ceiling, USA cover, pharmacy reimbursement.

Whichever plan you pick, do not subscribe in a hurry. Get a quote in writing, read the conditions list (the Condicionado General, available in English on request from Sanitas), confirm the visa-certificate process if you need it, and check that your local hospitals and the specialists you actually plan to use are in network. The difference between a great experience and a frustrating one in Spanish private healthcare is rarely the brand — it is whether your specific neighbourhood has the doctor you need and whether you set up the policy with full information about what is covered and what is not.