NURSING HOMES

Carers El Pinillo S.L. – Residencia Buenaventura
53 Double and single rooms
Calle Contreras 12
29630, Benalmadena Costa, Malaga
Tel: + 34 952 447 411
Tel/Fax: + 34 952 564 735

Parkhouse Care Group - Repatriation to UK
For free information pack apply to:
The Koppers Retirement Home
Kilmington, Axminster
EX13 7RJ, Devon, UK
Tel: + 44 (0)129 732 427

ALTERNATIVE HEALTHCARE

Natural Healthcare Clinic
Calle Sierramar
Arroyo de la Miel
Benalmadena, Malaga
Tel: + 34 952 567 935

HEALTHCARE IN SPAIN

EU residents
Under a reciprocal agreement between European Union governments, residents of EU countries can receive free medical care when visiting another country. To make sure you qualify, get an E111 form, which is standard for all member states of the EU, before coming to Spain. It is usually available at post offices. Once you have a Spanish Social Security card then you no longer need the E111.
If you are receiving a benefit for a disability or as a pensioner in your home country (within the EU) you should also ask your local Social Security office for a E121 form as this will be required for you to receive free prescriptions.

Spanish medical card
The EU reciprocal agreement covers you for treatment in Spain until you get an official Medical Card (Tarjeta de SS) from your local Social Security Office (INSS – Oficina del Instuto Nacional de Seguridad Social) in Spain. The office you require for the medical card is often to be found in clinics and some hospitals. If in doubt as to where to go for this you should ask at your doctor’s office.
It is safe to say that local doctors in Spain are as highly qualified as in any other EU country, sometimes more so.
Applying for the card is not a difficult procedure and you should receive it within a very short time. You will need to show the official your E111/E121 (if you are an EU citizen) and other relevant documents such as your residence card or passport.

Ambulances Services
There are both private and state run ambulance services for emergency and non urgent needs.

Emergency Telephone Number = 112

Private ambulance services provide a 24-hour service in most towns and are listed by town under Ambulances in the Yellow Pages. Most clinics and private hospitals also operate their own ambulance services. Ambulances are equipped with emergency equipment such as oxygen and life-support systems and drivers and staff are trained to provide first-aid.

On the Costa del Sol, there is also an emergency private helicopter service (Helicópteros Sanitarios) for which you can suscribe annually for a small fee.

Social security patients don't pay for ambulance services and private patients are generally reimbursed by their private health insurance (or travel insurance). By law, taxis are obligated to transport medical emergencies to hospital when requested to do so.

HOSPITALS NEAR TO BENALMÀDENA

The quality of health care and hospital facilities in Andalucia (and throughout Spain) is generally of a high standard. Progress is always being made and in January 2005, it was announced that there was a 35% improvement in hospital service in Andalucia. There are excellent doctors, and highly trained Spanish medical staff. Major hospitals are equipped with the latest high-tech equipment and Andalucia has many excellent public and private hospitals.

Although in some hospitals in Andalucia (especially the Costa del Sol Hospital) some doctors may speak some English and there may even be help in the form of a voluntary interpreter, you should not depend on finding and English speaker if you have a hospital visit. If you do not speak Spanish, it is best to take someone along with you who can translate, in case you cannot explain your problem or do not understand the treatment.

If you are in the Costa del Sol area, there is a well established health insurance company called Helicopteros Sanitarios (Tel: 952 816 767) which has a 24 hour hospital transfer Service included in an ambulance and call out doctor service. As the name of the company suggests, in the case of extreme emergency and difficult access, helicopter transfer may be used. They have quite reasonable annual quotas for families and individuals. The area they cover is from Sotogrande to Torremolinos.

There is now also a new Centro de Alta Resolución de Especialidades (CARE), which is aimed at offering a clear diagnosis, efficiently with the least delay possible and in just one visit. This pioneering initiative on behalf of the Andalucian Public Health Authorities is becoming a blue print for the rest of Spain. The centre is situated in Muelle de Heredia and has a special 24 hour emergency

Costa del Sol Hospital
The Costa del Sol Hospital, on the main A7 coast road Marbella is one of the best-equipped hospitals in Spain. Inaugurated in December 1993, the hospital is run by an independent company on behalf of the Andalucian Health Authorities. It was set up as a pilot scheme to improve the efficiency and quality of services, under a modern structure or organisation. It now has 243 beds and on average, around 100 healthy babies are born there every month. There are often voluntary interpreters on hand to help British and other nationalities communicate with the medical staff. With at least 15% of patients being non-Spanish speakers, this is considered a necessity for the smooth running of the hospital. The services are constantly improving and special resources are laid on in summer when the average number of emergencies increases from 140 to 355 a day. The hospital's website ( in Spanish has www.hcs.es) includes a useful explanatory patients guide.

Carlos Haya Hospital - Málaga City - Tel: (0034) 952 390 400
The first part of this large hospital complex was opened in 1956. Since then, it has grown and now consists of four hospitals and one specialist clinic. The main general hospital building in Avenida Carlos Haya, deals with most medical and surgical procedures. The Hospital Materno Infantil covers women's health, childbirth, infants and children's health. The Hospital Civil San Juan de Dios offers treatments and surgery which usually calls for a shorter stay and the Hospital Ciudad Jardín offers palliative care for terminally ill patients.

GEOGRAPHY OF SPAIN

Geographically Spain’s diversity is immense; there are endless tracts of wild crinkled sierra to explore as well as some spectacularly rugged stretches of coast between fine beaches.
Spain and Portugal share the Iberian Peninsula at the southwestern edge of Europe. Spain occupies some 80% of this peninsula and spreads over 505,000 sq km making it the biggest country in Western Europe after France. The Balearic Islands Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera lie 193km (120 miles) southeast of Barcelona.

The Pyrenees stretch roughly 400km (249 miles) from the Basque country in the west to the Mediterranean Sea, at times the peaks rise to 1524m(5000ft), the highest point being 3404m(11,169ft). The highest point on the Spanish peninsula (The Pico del Teide) on Tenerife in the Canaries is the highest peak in Spain. More than half of the country is made up of vast, elevated tablelands- the mesetas – and five major mountain ranges stretch across the country, in fact with an average altitude of 650m it’s the highest European country after Switzerland. Landscapes range from the deserts of Andalucia to the green wetlands of Galicia, from the sun-baked plains of Castilla-La- Mancha to the rugged snow-capped Pyrenees

Geography of Spain

WILDLIFE IN SPAIN

www.iberianature.com
Learn all about the natural wildlife in Spain

www.practicalspain.com/Wildlife.htm
A guide to the dangerous animals of Spain including emergency numbers etc.
 

Don't let this put you off coming to Spain, there a very few incidents of fatal attacks on humans in Spain and much of the dangerous wildlife is located in other areas than Benalmádena Costa. This guide is for those venturing into the more mountainous & less populated areas.

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SPANISH LEGAL SYSTEM

If you are arrested you will be allotted the free services of a duty solicitor (abogado de oficio), who may speak only Spanish. You are also entitled to make a phone call. If you use this to contact your embassy or consulate, it will probably be able to do no more than refer you to a lawyer who speaks your language. However, if you end up in court, the authorities are obliged to provide a translator.

Drugs
The country's liberal drug laws were severely tightened in 1992 and, at the time of writing, the only legal drug is cannabis, as long as it is only for personal use and in very small amounts. Although the public consumption of cannabis is illegal, it is quite common to see it being smoked in bars and even on the street. However it is obviously unwise to indulge openly, and could lead to a fine or, in the worst scenario, arrest. Travellers entering the country from Morocco should be prepared for thorough drug searches.

For more detailed information about the Spanish Legal System click here

EDUCATION IN SPAIN

Schools in Spain
Spain’s state-funded school system (escuelas públicas) is supported by a comprehensive network of private schools (escuelas privadas), including many foreign and international schools. Around one-third of Spain’s schoolchildren attend private schools, most of which are co-educational day schools.
Education in Spain is almost exclusively co-educational and is entirely free, from nursery school through to university - this includes the children of foreign resident). Over 90 per cent of children aged four or five attend a nursery school and over 55 percent of students remain in full-time education until they’re 18, with around 25 percent going on to vocational training and 30 per cent to university.

Education standards in Spain
Education standards at Spain’s finest universities are comparable with the best in Europe, although they’re generally extremely overcrowded. Foreign parents who can afford it often send their children to foreign universities, particularly American and British universities, where courses are shorter and more flexible than in Spain.

Education experience for children
Many foreign parents prefer to educate younger children in Spanish nursery and primary schools, where they quickly learn Spanish, and to send children of secondary school age to a private school. For many children, the experience of schooling and living in a foreign land is a stimulating change and a challenge they relish, and it offers invaluable cultural and educational experiences. Children become ‘world’ citizens and are less likely to be prejudiced against foreigners and foreign ideas.
Before making major decisions regarding your children’s future education, it’s important to consider their ability, character and individual requirements.

Types of schools in Spain
For most Spanish children, school starts with nursery or pre-school (preescolar) at the age of three to five. Compulsory education (escolaridad obligatoria), termed the basic general education (Educación General Básica/EGB), begins at six years of age in a primary school (escuela primaria) and lasts for six years.

At the age of 12 (equivalent to sixth grade) pupils move on to secondary education (educación secundaria obligatoria/ESO) for the next four years.