Online doctor for expats in Spain: care by profession and situation
Medically Reviewed by Dr. Pedro Yelamo Vera, MD
Licensed Physician No. 484814280 · Official Medical College of Bizkaia (Spain)Last reviewed: 21 October 2026
Yes: anyone can see a GP by video in English or Spanish. What an online doctor for expats in Spain can do, by profession and situation.
You don't have to figure this out alone
Dr. Pedro Yelamo Vera is an independent, bilingual GP licensed in Spain. Book a 15-minute video consultation in English or Spanish for €50, with a private electronic prescription issued under Spanish law when clinically appropriate.
How an online consultation works
Dr. Pedro Yelamo Vera explains, in under a minute, what happens during a private video consultation — from booking to your private Spanish e-prescription or medical report.
Yes. You can see an online GP by video in English or Spanish, whatever your job or situation. Teachers, cabin crew, students, diplomats, nannies and cruise passengers all use the same visit: an urgent, non-emergency assessment with a clear next step. What changes by profession is the paperwork, the privacy and the timing.
- Your passport, job or employer's address does not matter.
- Video consultations run every day, 07:30 to 20:30 Spain time. Choose an available time in the live calendar. An Urgent Care visit costs €50 and lasts 15 minutes.
- A video GP can assess symptoms, review results and issue private electronic prescriptions for Spanish pharmacies. Treatment and prescriptions are issued solely at the doctor's discretion, where clinically appropriate, following a genuine evaluation.
- No video visit replaces a required aviation, maritime, occupational, sporting, military or adoption fitness exam. Ask the organisation which examiner it needs before you book.
- Sick notes and certificates are assessed within the €50 visit. Neither issuance nor acceptance of a certificate is guaranteed.
- Chest pain, breathing trouble, stroke signs or a serious injury mean 112, not a video call.
Who can use an online GP in Spain, and for what?
Anyone, including children and pregnant patients. The service is for urgent, non-emergency care: new symptoms, flare-ups of a known condition, medicine questions, lab results, sexual health, travel health and medical paperwork.
Dr. Pedro Yelamo Vera is a GP licensed in Spain (Colegiado No. 484814280). Visits are by secure video, in English or Spanish. You do not need a diagnosis, fluent Spanish or a perfect file: a short account of what is wrong, your current medicines, any allergies and a private place to talk is enough. See current prices.
Three limits apply to every profession below. A video visit cannot examine you by hand, so the doctor may send you to in-person care. Controlled medicines such as benzodiazepines, sleeping tablets, opioids and stimulants are not prescribed by video. And a GP letter is never automatic clearance to fly, sail, compete, deploy or return to a safety-sensitive site. Self-employed? See the guide to online doctor consultations for expat freelancers.
Can teachers, nannies and au pairs in Spain use an online GP?
Yes. Your main challenges are privacy and other people's paperwork. The doctor assesses your health; your school, agency or host family decides what documents it accepts.
Teachers
Ask your school, in writing, what it needs before you ask for a certificate. "A doctor's note" can mean three things: proof you attended a visit, an explanation for an absence, or fitness for a specific duty. They are not interchangeable, and your school may require Spanish wording or its own form. Do not take the call from a staffroom or a school-managed device; use a room with a door you can close, and keep pupils' details out of anything you send. Medical certificates and sick notes are assessed within the normal visit.
Nannies and live-in childcare
If you live where you work, home and workplace overlap. Arrange a real handover to another adult before the visit; being in the house is not the same as being free to talk. You owe your employer no intimate details to ask for an hour off, and they need not be your interpreter. Keep your records in an account you control.
Au pairs
Au pairs often have no regular doctor and sometimes no local health cover yet. A private video visit covers everyday problems, renewals of ongoing medicines after evaluation, and certificates for a host family or language school. Most certificate requests arrive the night before a trip or a term deadline; choose a time in the calendar a few days ahead instead.
Can flight attendants, cruise crew and yacht crew use an online GP during a stop in Spain?
Yes, for general health concerns while you are on Spanish soil or docked in a Spanish port. No, for aviation or maritime fitness clearance, which needs the examiner your airline, company or flag authority names.
Flight attendants and cabin crew
Sort your request into one of three categories before you book: a record of a consultation, sickness documentation for an absence, or aviation fitness paperwork. A video GP can help with the first two after evaluation; the third is an aero-medical matter. Passenger fit-to-fly paperwork is not clearance to work as crew. Avoid taking the call from crew transport or a lounge with colleagues.
Cruise crew
Say when the ship leaves Spain at the start of the visit, so a local test or exam can be arranged before departure. Use the ship's medical service for anything tied to shipboard procedures, and a designated maritime examiner for a seafarer fitness certificate. Bring the request you received, not the certificate you hope for: evidence of illness, confirmation of a visit and fitness clearance are three different answers.
Yacht crew
You can take the call aboard if you have a private space and a stable connection, and you tell the practice if your location changes. A shared cabin or a crew group chat is not a private channel; ask how to send records securely. The vessel's schedule cannot shorten a required assessment, and a previous video visit does not cover a changed situation.
Can cruise-ship passengers in port see an online doctor?
Yes, while the ship is tied up in a Spanish port such as Bilbao, Barcelona or Palma. The visit can cover a cough that started overnight, a chronic-condition prescription running low, a lab result from home, or a certificate for the cruise line, airline or insurer.
Two practical points. A private electronic prescription is dispensed in a Spanish pharmacy, so collect it before you reboard. And dock signal drops near steel hulls and covered terminals: join from your cabin's Wi-Fi or a café near the terminal, not the gangway. Ship infirmaries are built for acute illness and injury; use them, or 112, for anything that cannot wait.
Can touring musicians, journalists and humanitarian workers get confidential video care in Spain?
Yes. For all three, the recurring problem is a deadline that is not a clinical reason, and a workplace that is not private.
Touring musicians and crew
Tonight's show is context, not a prescribing instruction. Explain the performance demands and the doctor decides what can be assessed by video. A GP note is not automatic clearance for a promoter or insurer. Do not book from a noisy backstage area, and do not leave a recommended test until the next city: say your route and agree what happens before you travel.
Journalists
You never need to name sources or attach reporting material; summarise only the work circumstances that affect your health. A hotel room works if nobody can overhear you. Ask your insurer about its process, but do not assume a private visit will be reimbursed.
Humanitarian workers
A video visit cannot replace a deployment or occupational fitness exam by a named examiner. Your coordinator does not need to attend your medical visit, and nothing is shared without your consent. Before you leave Spain, agree who will review any pending results and where any recommended exam will take place.
Can energy workers, athletes and diplomats consult a GP online in Spain?
Yes, for personal health. Not for clearance to work on a site, compete or meet a mission's medical process.
Energy and offshore workers
Describe your safety-sensitive duties accurately and ask your employer which occupational health process applies; a personal consultation does not authorise a return to site. Keep health records out of team chats and shared folders. Care does not follow you to the next assignment, so tell the doctor your departure date and clarify follow-up.
Athletes
Put supplements and training products on your medicine list, with the packaging to hand. Explain the concern yourself rather than sending a coach's interpretation. A prescription is not confirmation that a medicine is allowed in your sport; check anti-doping rules and any exemption process with your governing body. Fitness-to-compete clearance follows the organiser's route.
Diplomats and embassy staff
Diplomatic status does not change the evaluation or the limits of a remote visit. An embassy office is only private if nobody can overhear you and nobody else reads the appointment emails, so check which inbox the practice writes to. An assistant can book for you without joining the call or seeing your records.
Can students, commuters, partners, military families and adoptive parents use an online GP in Spain?
Yes. Here the open question is access and eligibility, which the doctor cannot decide.
International students
Read your university's and insurer's instructions first. An insurer's approval is a policy decision, not a clinical one, and a university decides whether a certificate meets its rules. An exam deadline does not create a medical finding.
Cross-border commuters
Give your actual location, not your work address.
Partners who moved for a relationship
A shared policy or registration under your partner's name does not confirm your own access. Keep your own contact details on the booking, decide whether your partner joins the call, and separate your medical records from the household relocation folder.
Military families
A private civilian visit is not a military-authorised exam and does not confirm your plan will pay; confirm cover and approvals with your plan office first. Keep each family member's records and consent separate; one appointment does not cover the household.
Adoptive parents
This is support for your own health, not an adoption eligibility assessment. Do not send the adoption file or a child's records to explain your own concern. If your child needs to be seen, book a separate visit; children are in scope.
Which route fits your request?
| Option | Best for | Cost and time | Key limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online GP video visit | Urgent, non-emergency symptoms, refills after evaluation, results, sick notes and certificates | €50, 15 minutes, every day 07:30–20:30 | No hands-on exam; no controlled medicines; no fitness clearance |
| Local in-person GP or clinic | Anything needing a physical exam or local tests | Varies by centre | Travel, waiting and language support to arrange |
| Designated examiner (aviation, maritime, occupational, sports, military) | Formal fitness certificates your employer or authority names | Set by the authority | Does not replace personal GP care |
| 112 or emergency department | Life-threatening symptoms | Free, immediate | Not for routine paperwork or follow-up |
Private electronic prescriptions issued by video are valid under Spanish law and dispensed in Spanish pharmacies. Itemised invoices are included for your insurer or employer. Cancellations need at least 24 hours' notice.
Whatever your job, the first step is the same: a private video visit with a doctor who understands your situation.
Dr. Yelamo assesses urgent, non-emergency problems by video in English or Spanish for anyone, and tells you plainly when you need in-person care instead.
Emergencies
Call 112 (or 061 for medical emergencies in several regions) or go to the nearest emergency department if you have chest pain or pressure, sudden breathlessness, signs of a stroke such as face drooping, arm weakness or slurred speech, a seizure, heavy bleeding, a serious injury, a severe allergic reaction, confusion or fainting. The NHS stroke symptoms page and the MedlinePlus heart attack guide describe the warning signs. Do not wait for a video appointment or a message reply. See the guide to 112 and 061 in Spain.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to live in Spain to use the service?
No. Residents, workers, students, crew members and visitors can all use it.
Can an online GP give me a sick note for my school, airline or employer?
A sick note or certificate is assessed within the €50 visit, where clinically appropriate, following a genuine evaluation. Neither issuance nor acceptance of a certificate is guaranteed; the organisation receiving it decides whether it meets its rules.
Can a video visit clear me to fly as crew, sail, compete or deploy?
No. A general GP consultation does not replace a required aviation, maritime, occupational, sporting or military fitness examination. Ask your employer or authority which examiner and which exam it requires.
Will I get a prescription?
Not automatically. Treatment and prescriptions are issued solely at the doctor's discretion, where clinically appropriate, following a genuine evaluation. Prescriptions are private electronic prescriptions dispensed in Spanish pharmacies; controlled medicines are not prescribed by video.
Is the consultation confidential if I live with my employer, host family or partner?
Yes. The visit is between you and the doctor. Choose a room where nobody can overhear you, use your own email for the booking, and decide yourself whether anyone else joins the call.
Will my insurer, university or military plan pay for a private video visit?
Only your insurer or plan office can confirm that. Ask about approved providers and prior approval before you book. An itemised invoice is included with every visit.
What should I prepare before the visit?
Your location in Spain, a short account of what is wrong and when it began, current medicines and supplements, allergies, relevant reports, and the exact wording of any document request.
Medical Citations & Sources
This content is written and reviewed by a licensed physician with reference to the following official health authorities.
