Healthcare in Palma: IB-Salut and private

Mallorca runs its own arm of Spain's public health system, called IB-Salut. It's universal, high quality, and free at the point of use, but plugging into it as a newcomer takes paperwork, and most expats carry private insurance alongside it anyway.

How you get public cover

The key that unlocks IB-Salut is the TSI card (targeta sanitària individual). To get it you need two things: your padrón (proof you're registered at a Palma address, see the empadronamiento how-to) and a basis for coverage, which for most people is working and paying social security.

• Employed or autónomo: you're covered automatically once you're paying into seguridad social
• EU citizens not yet working: your EHIC covers necessary care temporarily
• Non-EU, not working: you can pay into the convenio especial (roughly €60/month under 65) for full public access after a year on the padrón

Once you have the TSI, you're assigned a GP at your local centre de salut (primary care centre). They're genuinely good, and the central ones manage English fine.

Where the public system frustrates

Emergencies and serious illness: excellent, world-class. Routine and elective care: slow. A dermatology or traumatology referral can take 2 to 4 months, and you don't choose your specialist. That waiting list is the entire reason the private market thrives.

Private insurance: what expats actually buy

Private cover in Palma is cheap by international standards, €50 to 90/month buys a comprehensive policy for someone under 55. The big four networks are Sanitas, Adeslas, DKV and Asisa, all with major private hospitals on the island (Quirónsalud, Clínica Juaneda, Clínica Rotger).

• Non-EU visa applicants take note: most residence visas require private insurance with no copays and no waiting periods, that specific product costs more, around €60 to 120/month
• Check the network includes a hospital near you, not just in greater Palma
• Dental is nearly always a separate add-on

Buying insurance for a visa? Ask explicitly for a policy "sin copagos y sin carencias", a normal retail policy with copays will get your application rejected.

The combo that works

Get on the padrón immediately, sort your TSI as soon as you have a coverage basis, and keep a private policy for speed and English-speaking specialists. Use the centre de salut for prescriptions and anything chronic; use private for whatever you want handled this week. Most long-term expats keep both and wouldn't drop either.

Pharmacies, urgent care, and the numbers to save

The green-cross farmàcia is the front line, pharmacists advise freely, many things needing prescriptions elsewhere don't here, and every district has a 24h rotation (the farmàcia de guàrdia, posted on every pharmacy door). For urgent-but-not-emergency care, skip the hospital queue and find your nearest PAC (Punt d'Atenció Continuada, open out of hours). The numbers: 112 for emergencies, 061 for IB-Salut Respon, the Balearic health line, with English available, which can triage and tell you where to go.