Healthcare

Spain — Healthcare: Major Hospitals

Spain's public hospital network is overseen nationally by the Ministerio de Sanidad, with day-to-day administration delegated to each autonomous community's regional health service. Leading public reference hospitals include Hospital Universitario La Paz in Madrid (Spain's highest internationally-ranked hospital), Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón and Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre (also Madrid), and Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona — several of these have appeared in Newsweek's global best-hospitals rankings, all as public institutions. Regional distribution of public hospitals is uneven: Andalucía has the largest count nationally, followed by Catalonia and Madrid.

Ministerio de Sanidad · Last verified 2026-07-18

Key Facts

  • Hospital Universitario La Paz (Madrid) is Spain's highest internationally-ranked hospital.
  • Other leading Madrid public hospitals: Gregorio Marañón, 12 de Octubre.
  • Leading Barcelona public hospitals: Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Vall d'Hebron.
  • Andalucía has the largest number of public hospitals of any autonomous community, ahead of Catalonia and Madrid.

Related Topics

public-healthcareemergency-numbers
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