Barcelona offers the highest level of specialization and quality in medical care, along with the warmest welcome to its visitors, very high levels of public safety and an open and cosmopolitan spirit, a lover of cultural diversity.
Catalonia’s healthcare system is recognized as one of the best in the world for its highly qualified medical staff, the widespread use of the most advanced technologies and techniques, strict control and guarantees of good practices.
This strong reputation is the result of a long history, and not an improvisation.
The first milestone 600 years ago was the creation of the Hospital de la Santa Creu, a clear exponent of Catalan civil Gothic art, which has its origins in 1401 with the merger of the six hospitals that were then in Barcelona. In 1930, thanks to the bequest of the banker Pau Gil, a new, more modern hospital complex was inaugurated in another more appropriate location, becoming the jewel of Catalan modernism, the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, created by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner (1850-1923).
The second milestone to consider is the creation of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, whose history begins at the end of the 19th century when Valentí Carulla, grandfather of cardiologist Valentí Fuster, promoted and convinced the administrations to invest resources to start up the hospital, given the increase in Barcelona’s population and its growing medical needs. On the occasion of the Universal Exposition of Barcelona in 1895, work began on the hospital, which opened its doors in 1906 as the first clinical hospital in Spain to combine medical care with the teaching and training of health professionals.
Both centers are situated at the very heart of the development of health sciences in Barcelona, in the areas of care, research, training and innovation..
Currently, specialist training is distinguished by its selection system, the strictest and most demanding in the educational system. For admission to the School of Medicine you must obtain the highest score of all the courses offered. After a long and demanding training, led by the most reputable doctors, to become a specialist you have to pass the MIR exam, one of the most demanding and recognized exams in the world. After many years of intense practice as a resident, the physician often completes his or her training in the best centers in the world for his or her specialty.
The organization of the system promotes the use of the most innovative techniques by hospitals. Therefore, some of the interventions and procedures were performed for the first time in the world in our hospitals.
On the other hand, the Government maintains very demanding accreditation, quality and surveillance systems that guarantee the reliability of health care and the use of the most innovative technologies in public and private medical centers.
The city of Barcelona is home to the most prestigious specialists and world leaders in innovative and minimally invasive techniques.
The WHO and independent expert rankings recognize the Catalan Health System as one of the best in the world
Among other achievements
Barcelona and its metropolitan area is ranked 40th in the world of the top 200 cities and metropolitan areas for their level of research. Barcelona and Catalonia are also among the 10 most important clinical trial development centers in Europe and among the top 20 worldwide. The city stands out in oncology, where it is among the 10 most important centers in the world and among the top 5 in Europe.
Barcelona hosts large infrastructure for the development of research, with the biomedical area being one of its most important lines. Highlights include the ALBA Light Synchrotron, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, which houses the Mare Nostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and the National Center for Genomic Analysis. These large infrastructure projects are a great support for biomedical research centers located in Barcelona, with a very active involvement of university hospitals that host research teams with a strong international presence, especially in areas such as oncology, regenerative medicine and genetics.
Several internationally renowned centers are located in the city of Barcelona, offering in the same location the possibility of accessing the most advanced treatments in all medical specialties, among them the hospitals associated with Barcelona International Hospitals.
Thus, together with the Agrupación Sanitaria Hospital Clínic-Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, characterized by being one of the most internationally recognized university and research hospital groups. We find in Barcelona the Puigvert Foundation as a European referral center in urology, nephrology and andrology, the Institut Guttmann The Quirón Group is the largest network of private hospitals in Spain, which is the reference for the medical-surgical treatment and comprehensive rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injury, acquired brain damage or other major neurological disability. Quirónsalud Barcelona Hospital and Teknon Medical Center that are at the forefront in the different fields of medicine, and are prepared for the application of highly complex medicine, with a clear vocation for comprehensive patient care, in addition to the Institute for the Prevention and Control of Diseases (ICD). Hospital Universitari Dexeus The company is a reference in the specialties of gynecology, obstetrics and reproductive medicine.
Barcelona is one of the most highly rated European cities for its quality of life, innovation, and range of services. According to Resonance Consultancy, it holds the eighth position worldwide among the best cities to visit or live in. It is also an international benchmark in the organization of congresses, especially medical ones, thanks to the work of the Barcelona Convention Bureau (BCB), which promotes the city and provides free advice to event organizers. For more information on the city’s tourist and service offerings, the official Barcelona Tourism portal can be consulted.
To obtain more information about the offerings that the city of Barcelona makes available to any visitor, you can access the official tourism website in Barcelona