Online Doctor in Spain: How Sanitas Video Consultations Work, Included With Every Plan

Yes, you can see an online doctor in Spain, and with Sanitas it is part of your plan: free on most plans, and a small fixed copayment on the plans that have one. Every Sanitas health plan includes a 24-hour emergency video consultation service for adults and children with no appointment, and video appointments with specialists booked in the app. The emergency line is 24/7; specialist appointments follow each doctor's hours. The doctor can prescribe medication and order tests during the call. Pay-per-visit online doctors in Spain charge from €20 to €54 a consultation, most between €31 and €39. Sanitas Accede costs €29.00 to €32.71 a month at age 30 to 39, with no copayment on video consultations, and takes new members up to age 59. At 60 to 69 Sanitas Unico costs €48.10 to €60.24 a month, and its first six specialist video consultations a year are free.

This guide explains what a Sanitas video consultation is and the three ways to reach a doctor without leaving home. It then covers how to book one step by step, prescriptions and referrals, what it costs on each plan, and when you still need to go to the clinic. A copayment, where the word appears, is a small fixed amount you pay Sanitas each time you use a service, a little like an excess; our guide to how copayments work has the detail.

What is a video consultation with Sanitas?

A video consultation is a medical appointment held by secure video call instead of in a consulting room. Phone consultations, and messaging with the doctor during the call, are part of the same service. The doctors are specialists Sanitas selects from the doctors, clinics and hospitals it has contracted (its network). You connect through the app on a phone, tablet or computer. The doctor can send you messages during and after the call, exchange documents with you, and file everything in the health folder of your account. The service is delivered through Sanitas Blua, the Bupa group's digital health platform, which Sanitas includes with every plan at no extra cost.

Two rules matter. A video consultation is a support to the doctor's decision, never a substitute for seeing you. The doctor can ask you to attend in person when an examination or a test is needed, and the findings of an in-person consultation always take precedence. And a scheduled specialist video consultation is not for emergencies; those go to the 24-hour emergency video service or to a Sanitas emergency department.

Three ways to see a doctor online with Sanitas

24-hour emergency video consultation, no appointment

Open the app at any hour, any day, and you are put through to the doctor on duty from the 24-hour emergency service, usually within a few minutes. It covers general medicine and paediatrics, and if needed the doctor can prescribe medication and diagnostic tests during the call. Paediatricians are available Monday to Friday from 8am to 10pm; outside those hours a child is seen by the Sanitas 24 Hours medical team. You cannot choose the doctor. Sanitas may record emergency calls so that any later query about the advice can be reviewed, and you may not record the consultation yourself.

Video appointments with specialists

More than 3,600 Sanitas professionals work across its video services, and you can book a video appointment in every speciality Sanitas has enabled for digital consultation. The app shows the specialities open to video consultation and which doctors are available when you book. You book the same way as an in-person visit, choose the speciality and a time, and join from the appointment when it starts. There is also a "digital consultation today" option with doctors from ten specialities; the app shows which have a same-day slot when you book. Each specialist keeps their own video hours.

Sanitas 24 Hours, doctors on the phone

Most plans also include Sanitas 24 Hours, a telephone line staffed by a medical team. It answers medical questions, advises on treatments and medication and helps you interpret test results, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. On Mas 90 Plus each call carries a €3.50 copayment. It is the right first call when you are unsure whether something needs a doctor at all.

Blua adds a set of digital tools around the consultations:

• A digital check-up that uses the phone camera and a few questions to screen your heart health, blood pressure, hearing, skin lesions, diabetes risk and mood. It is a screening tool, not a diagnosis, and it links straight to the emergency video line if a reading worries you.
• A symptom checker that suggests the right speciality for what you describe.
• Digital physiotherapy with exercises corrected on camera, and the Take Care of Your Mind digital psychology service; our guide to mental health cover covers the psychology side.
• Health programmes for pregnancy, nutrition, personal training and children's health, run by a health adviser over phone, chat or video, Monday to Friday from 8am to 10pm except Spanish bank holidays and Madrid local holidays.

Online doctor in Spain: pay per visit or included with Sanitas

If you are not insured in Spain, private telehealth services charge per consultation. Their prices in September 2026 were:

Third-party prices are as published on each service's website on 4 September 2026 and may change. Sanitas figures are the 2026 plan terms.

The arithmetic is simple. At 30 to 39, Sanitas Accede costs about the same each month as a single pay-per-visit call. It has no copayment on video consultations and also covers in-person GP and specialist consultations and simple tests. Sanitas Mas Salud, with no copayments at all, costs three to four times as much as Accede at the same age. Our guide to how much health insurance costs in Spain gives the price by age for every plan.

How to have a video consultation with Sanitas, step by step

1. Open the app from the link Sanitas sends you by text message once your policy is activated. The app is available in English and Spanish.
2. For an emergency at any hour: open the app, choose the emergency video consultation, and wait to be connected to the doctor on duty, usually within a few minutes.
3. For a specialist: go to doctors and appointments, pick the speciality, choose video consultation as the format and select a time. The app also shows a "digital consultation today" option for ten specialities.
4. Before the call: charge your device, find a quiet, well-lit and private spot, allow the app to use your camera and microphone, and have your symptoms, current medication and any recent test results to hand.
5. During the call: the doctor can message you, ask you to show a rash or an injury on camera, and send documents through the chat.
6. After the call: any prescription, referral or consultation note appears in your health folder in the app.

A child under 18 can only have a video consultation with the prior authorisation of a parent or legal guardian, and for the Blua health programmes the conversation is held with the parent or guardian. See our guide to children's cover for how paediatric cover works.

Prescriptions, referrals and tests from a video consultation

A Sanitas doctor can prescribe medication and order diagnostic tests during a video consultation when they judge it appropriate, including repeat prescriptions for ongoing medication. The doctor can insist on seeing you. Spanish pharmacies cannot sell antibiotics without a prescription, so a video consultation is the route if you need one. The prescription is a private one, valid at any pharmacy in Spain. You pay the pharmacy for the medicine unless you have the pharmacy add-on, which refunds half the cost of prescribed medicines, up to €200 per person each policy year.

You do not normally need a referral to see a Sanitas specialist: you book most of them directly in the app, in person or by video. Where a prescription is required (tests, psychology and a few specialities), the doctor issues it in the app so you can book without another visit. Tests are booked at any Sanitas network laboratory or diagnostic centre, which you can find in our medical directory; our guide to blood tests with Sanitas explains what each plan pays. Sanitas' newest Madrid hospital, at Valdebebas, is built around the app and Sanitas calls it its digital hospital; you do not need to be near it to use video consultations anywhere in Spain.

Which Sanitas plans include video consultations, and what they cost

All of them. Blua and the video consultation services are included with every Sanitas plan sold for cover in Spain, and video consultations and the Blua tools have no waiting period on any plan. On the plans without copayments there is nothing to pay. Those are Sanitas Mas Salud, Mas Salud Family, Top Quantum, Residents Visa, Mas 90, Premium 500, Sanitas Professional and Sanitas International Students. On the plans with copayments the rule differs by plan:

The table does not cover Mas 90 Plus or Professional Plus; ask us to confirm the copayment on your plan before you book.

When a video consultation is not the right tool

Video supports the doctor's decision; it does not replace the consulting room. Book an in-person appointment, or expect to be sent to one, when the doctor needs to examine you or you need a test that cannot be ordered remotely. The same applies to injuries that need hands-on treatment and to anything that needs a physical procedure. For a life-threatening emergency call 112, Spain's emergency number, or go to the nearest emergency department. Every Sanitas plan covers the emergency visit itself at a network emergency centre; Accede and Unico do not cover being admitted or operated on afterwards. Our guide to seeing a GP in person explains how the in-person side works, and the same plan pays for both.

Not with Sanitas yet?

If you are a resident registered with the public system, your health centre is the route for routine care. A UK GHIC or EU EHIC card gives a visitor medically necessary state healthcare, including emergency treatment, at public providers only. If you are applying for a visa, self-employed, or tired of waiting lists, a Sanitas plan gives you the 24-hour doctor, the specialist video appointments, consultations and simple tests from the day your cover starts. Hospital treatment, surgery and complex tests carry waiting periods of three to ten months on most plans, which Residents Visa waives. Policies start on the 1st of a month, and Residents Visa, with no copayments and no waiting periods, is the plan built for visa applications. Get a quote for your age and province, or compare the Sanitas plans side by side.

Frequently asked questions

---