When you are navigating a serious health condition and considering treatment in Europe, the question of who will take care of you matters more than almost anything else. Not just which hospital, which doctor. In 2026, Forbes magazine published its ninth annual ranking of the 100 best doctors in Spain, and nine specialists affiliated with hospitals in the Barcelona International Hospitals (BIH) network were included across six different medical disciplines. In this article, you will learn who these professionals are, what their recognition means in practice, and how BIH can help you access this level of expertise if you are seeking treatment in Barcelona.
Why Forbes’ List of Spain’s Best Doctors Carries Weight
Since 2018, Forbes Spain has published an annual selection of the country’s most outstanding medical professionals, organised by specialty. Now in its ninth edition, the ranking is not based on patient votes or advertising spend. It reflects the judgement of specialist healthcare journalists who assess candidates across criteria including clinical track record, research and publication output, teaching responsibilities, professional leadership, and contribution to the advancement of their field.
For international patients researching treatment options in Europe, this kind of peer-informed recognition is more useful than generic quality claims. It identifies, by specialty, the professionals who have earned the sustained trust of the medical community at a national level.
This year’s edition reinforces a clear trend. Barcelona brings together more recognised specialists than any other Spanish city outside Madrid. In this context, the presence of nine BIH-affiliated professionals on the list reflects the depth of expertise found in the city’s leading private hospitals.
The full 2026 ranking is published by Forbes España and can be consulted at forbes.es. Centro Médico Teknon has also highlighted the recognition of several of its specialists in a dedicated article.
Several BIH-affiliated Doctors Recognised by Forbes in 2026
Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery
Dr. Mireia Ruíz Castilla: Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona · Hospital Universitari Dexeus
Dr. Ruíz Castilla leads the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery at Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona. Her inclusion in Forbes 2026 reflects a career that spans both oncological reconstruction, restoring function and appearance after cancer surgery, and elective aesthetic procedures. She also practises at Hospital Universitari Dexeus, one of Spain’s most recognised private hospitals for women’s health and complex surgical care. Her dual affiliation within the BIH network means patients in need of reconstructive expertise after oncological treatment have direct access to her within an integrated care environment.
Fertility and Assisted Reproduction
Dr. Ramón Aurell Ballesteros: Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona · Centro Médico Teknon
Dr. Aurell Ballesteros leads the Reproductive Medicine department at Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona and directs the Assisted Reproduction Unit at Centro Médico Teknon. With over three decades of clinical experience in fertility treatment and fertility preservation, his recognition by Forbes in 2026 reflects both his clinical results and his contribution to the scientific literature in a field where Barcelona’s private centres have built a reputation that extends well beyond Spain. For international patients travelling to Barcelona for fertility treatment, his dual presence within the BIH network offers both continuity of care and access to two of the city’s most technically advanced centres.
Internal Medicine
Dr. Ángel Charte González: Hospital Universitari Dexeus · Servicio Médico Quirónsalud de MotoGP™
Dr. Charte González serves as Head of Internal Medicine at Hospital Universitari Dexeus and Medical Director of the MotoGP World Championship, a role that places him at the intersection of clinical medicine and high-performance sport, demanding rapid diagnostic decision-making under pressure. His Forbes 2026 recognition reflects both his institutional standing and a profile that is genuinely unusual in Spanish medicine: a clinician with deep hospital expertise whose work regularly extends to complex trauma and emergency situations in global competition settings.
Dr. Augusto Anguita: Centro Médico Teknon
Dr. Anguita is an Internal Medicine specialist at Centro Médico Teknon. Internal medicine is often the discipline that anchors complex, multi-system cases, the specialty responsible for coordinating care when a patient’s condition does not fit neatly into a single organ-specific box. His inclusion in Forbes 2026 alongside Dr. Charte reinforces the BIH network’s breadth in this area, with recognised internists across two of its leading centres.
Ophthalmology
Dr. Amadeu Carceller Guillamet: Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona
Dr. Carceller Guillamet is an ophthalmology specialist at Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona. His recognition by Forbes in 2026 places him among Spain’s leading professionals in a specialty where precision, technology, and clinical judgement converge. Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona is noted for its advances in minimally invasive surgery across disciplines, and its ophthalmology service operates within this broader culture of technical innovation.
Paediatrics
Dr. Héctor Boix Alonso: Hospital Universitari Dexeus
Dr. Boix Alonso leads the Paediatrics Service at Hospital Universitari Dexeus. For international families seeking care for children in Barcelona, his Forbes 2026 recognition provides a meaningful reference point. Dexeus holds JCI Gold Seal accreditation and has established itself as one of Spain’s leading private hospitals for maternal and child health. Within the wider BIH network, families needing more specialised paediatric care, for complex, rare, or oncological conditions in children, can also access Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital, one of Europe’s foremost paediatric centres and a member of 14 European Reference Networks.
Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology
Dr. Ferrán Pellisé Urquiza: Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona
Dr. Pellisé Urquiza is Head of Spinal Surgery at Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron and Director of the Spinal Service at Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona. He also leads Columna Dr. Pellisé, his dedicated spinal practice. This combination of public university hospital leadership and private specialist practice is characteristic of Barcelona’s medical model, where the boundaries between public research excellence and private clinical delivery are genuinely permeable. His Forbes 2026 recognition places him among Spain’s top professionals in a field where the complexity of cases, from degenerative conditions to deformity correction and post-trauma reconstruction, demands both technical mastery and extensive experience.
Dr. Ramón Cugat Bertomeu: Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona
Dr. Cugat Bertomeu is the founder of Instituto Cugat and Co-Director of the Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology Service at Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona. His career has been built primarily around sports medicine and musculoskeletal surgery, with a particular focus on ligament reconstruction, cartilage repair, and the treatment of complex joint injuries. His Forbes 2026 inclusion reflects decades of clinical leadership in a specialty where Barcelona has developed a strong international identity, in part through its connection to elite sport, but also through its capacity to handle complex post-traumatic and degenerative cases in the general patient population.
Urology
Dr. Antonio Alcaraz Asensio: Centro Médico Teknon
Dr. Alcaraz Asensio is one of Spain’s foremost specialists in uro-oncology, robotic surgery, and kidney transplantation. He practises at Centro Médico Teknon, one of the few hospitals in Spain to hold both JCI and EFQM accreditation. His Forbes 2026 recognition reflects a career focused on minimally invasive techniques that have redefined how complex urological conditions, including prostate, kidney, and bladder cancer, are managed surgically. For patients considering treatment for urological cancers in Europe, his presence within the BIH network is a meaningful reference. Those requiring specialist nephrology or andrology care can also access Fundació Puigvert, a European Centre of Excellence for Prostate Cancer within the same network.
Barcelona’s Medical Model: Why Concentration Matters
The recognition of nine BIH-affiliated specialists in a single national ranking is not coincidental. It reflects something structural about how medicine is practised in Barcelona.
The city has the second-highest concentration of specialist medical professionals and reference centres in Spain. Importantly, its public and private systems are not parallel universes, they share talent, research infrastructure, and training environments. A specialist like Dr. Pellisé holds simultaneous leadership roles in a public university hospital and a private BIH network centre. This is common in Barcelona, and it means patients accessing care through the private route benefit from expertise shaped by high-volume, high-complexity clinical exposure.
Barcelona is also consistently ranked among Europe’s leading cities for biomedical research. Active clinical trial participation, with thousands of ongoing studies across BIH network hospitals, means patients may have access to treatments not yet widely available elsewhere. The Forbes-recognised specialists are not only clinicians; several are active researchers whose work continues to shape practice in their fields.
In this context, for international patients, this convergence of expertise, research culture, and clinical volume produces something practically important: access to professionals who have seen complex cases at scale, within teams equipped to handle them.
Frequently Asked Questions About Forbes’ Best Doctors in Barcelona
Who are the BIH doctors recognised by Forbes in 2026?
Can international patients book an appointment with these doctors in Barcelona?
Can I request a second medical opinion from a BIH specialist?
What languages are available for international patients?
Why Forbes Recognition Matters for International Patients in Barcelona
The nine specialists recognised by Forbes in 2026 represent key disciplines for international patients. These include reproductive medicine, orthopaedic and spinal surgery, paediatrics, internal medicine, ophthalmology, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and urology. Together, their presence within the BIH network reflects what Barcelona has built over decades: a medical environment shaped by specialisation, research, strong institutions and real capacity for complex care.
For patients considering treatment in Europe, Barcelona offers something rare: world-class expertise that is accessible, within a city that is straightforward to reach and easy to navigate. The BIH network exists to make that access even simpler, connecting patients with the right specialist, at the right hospital, without unnecessary complexity.
If you are considering treatment in Barcelona, seeking a second opinion, or would simply like to understand your options, the BIH team is ready to help.
