Cold Sore Treatment in San Sebastián

Healthcare in San Sebastián: what visitors and residents should know

How local care works in San Sebastián and across Basque Country, Spain — and where an online doctor fits alongside it.

San Sebastián is served by Osakidetza, the Basque Health Service, under the Basque government rather than any national body, with Basque (Euskara) co-official alongside Spanish throughout the health system. State healthcare is run at regional level, so the rules you meet depend on where you are rather than on Spain as a whole. EU, EEA and Swiss visitors holding an EHIC (or a UK GHIC) can use public primary care and emergency departments on the same terms as residents, though you will normally be asked for the card plus photo ID at reception. Outside surgery hours, pharmacies operate a rota — the farmacia de guardia — and the duty pharmacy is posted in the window of every closed chemist. The city's visitor economy is built on gastronomy and its beaches, and it draws a large seasonal influx from across the nearby French border — visitors who may hold French rather than Spanish entitlement documents and are often unclear which system they fall under. Its position on the Bay of Biscay means an Atlantic climate: cool, wet and green rather than arid, with strong surf on Zurriola and a correspondingly higher rate of water-sport injuries than the Mediterranean resorts. Winter and shoulder seasons bring the respiratory complaints typical of northern Spain rather than the heat-related presentations of the south.

• World-renowned food scene
• Beautiful beaches
• Cultural tourism

Areas we cover around San Sebastián and Basque Country

An online consultation is not a substitute for emergency care. If you are in San Sebastián and your symptoms are severe or life-threatening, call 112 or go to the nearest emergency department.