Health insurance can be hard to decide on and the promises are limitless – until the day you need it and then it is nothing but a hassle. However, health insurance cannot be avoided and you never know when you need it. When ordering a package deal, you are often offered insurance by your travel agency that covers visits to all private clinics on Gran Canaria. If you need to see a doctor while on holiday, you start by contacting your guides as they know the different clinics – remember your travel and insurance certificate as well as your passport.

More and more people have started to plan their own holidays instead of booking through a travel agency as they prefer to stay for a longer period of time. If you plan to stay for more than thirty days, you need to buy your own travel insurance through an insurance company. Travel insurance rarely covers visits to private medical clinics, but merely visits to public facilities (Centro de Salud) such as public clinics and hospitals. No one plans to experience an illness while on holiday; however, you can never to be careful and you should sort out some form of health insurance if you plan to stay in the sun for a while – better to be safe than sorry.

A Norwegian medical centre that is open 24-hours a day is located in Aguineguin. In Puerto Rico, you will find the ´Atlantic Clinic´ that is open all day and night. In Spanish, a medical clinic is called ´Centro de Salud´ and a doctor is ´Medico´.

On the south coast of Gran Canaria, most of the private medical clinics have employees that speak Scandinavian, English and German, so go right in if you need to see a doctor. You can also visit one of the pharmacies as they are willing to offer medical advice – in several languages.

But remember to look after each other!

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