IN MADRID – Jellyfish stings, diarrhoea and food poisoning are typical ailments British tourists come down with while holidaying in Spain, but this summer they could face delays and a paucity of care amid a shortage of medical workers.
Unions have warned of a lack of medical staff in tourist hotspots. It comes after health authorities failed to implement contingency plans to cope with the arrival of millions of tourists just when doctors and nurses take their summer holidays, two unions claim.
Thousands of hospital beds will be closed, and non-urgent operations will be cancelled in some parts of Spain because authorities have not arranged temporary cover, according to the CSIF union, which represents civil servants and SATSE, a nursing union.
The shortages will become most apparent from 1 July onwards, the unions claimed, just when the tourist season reaches its peak.
Doctors’ surgeries, commonly known as health centres in Spain, will cut afternoon clinics in most areas, the unions warned.
Unions in Andalusia warned that hospitals would cut operations by 25 per cent (Photo: Xuan Cueto/Europa Press via Getty Images)Health provision is largely the responsibility of regional governments as Spain is a highly devolved country.
CSIF said in a statement that in May, according to government social security data, only 5,589 jobs were created nationwide in the health sector, compared with 13,202 during the same period last year.
“Jellyfish stings, Legionnaires disease, and food poisoning are just some of the things which tourists come down with in the summer,” Pepe Sánchez, of Satse Union in Andalusia, told The i Paper.
“But since the pandemic, some 20,000 health staff have been cut in Andalusia alone.”
square FIONA GOVAN I live in Spain – trust me, Britons are not the worst tourists
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Andalusia in the country’s south, which includes the Costa del Sol, drew 6.9 million British tourists last year, making it one of the most popular regions for UK tourists.
However, unions warned that in Andalusia, 18 per cent less staff were contracted this year compared with 2024, which they said would especially hit healthcare in tourist resorts on the coast.
They claimed that hospitals would cut operations by 25 per cent and overall hospitals would operate at 75 per cent of their normal rate.
The Andalusian regional government health department did not respond to a request for comment.
For Spaniards, the lack of extra provision during the summer will mean routine tests will be delayed and non-urgent operations will also be put off, the unions claimed.
In Catalonia, unions said hospitals would be overwhelmed in tourist areas like Barcelona.
A report published in 2024 in the National Library of Medicine found there was a national shortage of nurses in Spain.
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