Emergency information in Spain
112 is the single European number, free and answered 24/7 by English-speaking operators, connecting to ambulance, fire or police. Direct: 091 national police, 092 local police, 061 the medical service.
Emergency numbers
All free and answered 24/7. Operators on 112 speak English.
- 112: The single European emergency number (connects to ambulance, fire and police; operators speak English).
- 091: National Police (Policía Nacional - crime, theft and assault).
- 092: Local Police (Policía Local - public order and traffic).
- 061: Emergency medical service (Ambulancia).
An EHIC covers necessary care for EU citizens. See the Health section for the hospitals with international departments.
The ambulance your hotel calls may be a private one
A GHIC or EHIC is not accepted at a private hospital, and hotels in tourist areas routinely call private doctors and ambulances. Say you want the public service, or your insurer pays the difference.
- Ask for the public service by name. Dial 112 yourself and ask for an ambulance rather than letting a reception desk arrange one.
- Hotels in resort areas often call private doctors or private ambulances. That is convenience, not conspiracy - but a GHIC or EHIC is not accepted at a private hospital, and the bill lands on your insurance or on you.
- Some tourist areas have no public hospital nearby at all, which is the case where a private clinic is the only realistic answer - worth knowing before you need one, not after.
- A state card is not travel insurance. It does not cover repatriation, non-urgent treatment or anything a private clinic does.
- Keep every receipt and the discharge report. No insurer reimburses a Spanish private clinic without the informe médico.
Public or private is a decision, not a detail
Spain has an excellent public emergency system and a large private one alongside it, and in tourist areas the private one is often nearer and quicker to answer a hotel's phone call. The difference only shows up on the invoice.
| Route | Who pays | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|
| 112, public ambulance and hospital | State card covers medically necessary care | Anything urgent, anywhere with a public hospital |
| Private doctor or clinic called by a hotel | You or your travel insurer, in full | Where no public facility is nearby, or for convenience |
If you are taken to a private hospital in an emergency, that is not a mistake to unwind on the spot - get treated, then tell your insurer the same day. What causes the argument later is the missing paperwork, not the choice of hospital.
Two things to carry
- The state card and an insurance policy number - they cover different things and neither replaces the other.
- The name and address of your accommodation written down. It is the first question the 112 operator asks, and it is the one most people cannot answer in a strange town.
AlertCops: the police app that speaks for you
The Ministry of the Interior's own app has an SOS button, a chat that reaches the National Police and the Guardia Civil, and shares your location - useful when you cannot explain where you are in Spanish.
- AlertCops is the official app of the Ministry of the Interior, not a third-party service: alerts go to the National Police and the Guardia Civil.
- The SOS button asks for immediate help from the screen, without a phone call - which is the point when speaking is impossible or unwise.
- The chat reaches the police directly, so a report does not depend on your Spanish.
- It shares your location, which is what the operator needs first and what a visitor is least able to give.
- It does not replace 112. For a medical emergency or a fire, 112 is still the number - AlertCops is aimed at crime and personal safety.
What it is for
Reporting a theft in a country whose language you do not speak is the part of a bad day that turns into a lost afternoon. AlertCops is published by Spain's Ministry of the Interior and developed with the National Police and the Guardia Civil, and it is built for exactly that gap:
- an SOS button that requests immediate assistance from the screen
- a chat that puts you in contact with the National Police and the Guardia Civil
- location sharing, including with trusted contacts
Install it before you need it - a free app downloaded on hotel wifi at the start of a trip is worth more than the same app remembered halfway through a police station queue.
For anything medical, keep dialling 112. AlertCops is a policing channel; the emergency number reaches ambulance, fire and police together and is answered in English.
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