Sick note in Spain: justificante médico online vs baja médica

Yes, you can get a sick note in Spain online: a GP licensed in Spain can assess you by video and, where clinically appropriate, issue a justificante médico or medical certificate. Dr. Pedro Yelamo Vera, a GP licensed in Spain, sees patients by video in English and Spanish, and you see the same doctor every time. What a private GP cannot do is put you on a baja médica. That formal sick leave comes only from the public health service or the mutua.

Can you get a sick note in Spain online?

Yes, after a real assessment. A GP licensed in Spain can see you by video and, where clinically appropriate, document the consultation, the findings and a recommendation such as rest. Neither issuance nor acceptance of a certificate is guaranteed. The paperwork follows what the assessment supports.

Being ill and asked for paperwork in a language you do not know turns a simple absence into a second problem. The calm first step is to find out which document the recipient needs: "sick note" has no single meaning across an employer, an insurer, a school or an airline.

Certificates are assessed within the standard medical certificates video visit: €50, 15 minutes, itemised invoice included. A justified certificate is signed and sent securely by email after the visit. Cancellations need 24 hours' notice.

What is the difference between a justificante médico and a baja médica?

A justificante médico confirms that a doctor saw you on a given date and time and, if appropriate, what the doctor recommends. A baja médica (incapacidad temporal) is the official sick-leave process run through Social Security, which can pay a benefit while you cannot work. A private note never replaces it.

Document	Who issues it	What it proves	What it cannot do
Justificante de asistencia	Any registered doctor who saw you, public or private, including by video	You attended a consultation on a date and time	Prove you were unfit to work for a period
Clinical certificate or GP letter	The doctor who assessed you	Findings and recommendations the assessment supports	Guarantee acceptance, paid leave, a refund or a retrospective claim
Baja médica (parte de baja, confirmación, alta)	Your public health service doctor; the mutua for work accidents	Formal temporary incapacity, communicated to Social Security	Be issued or replaced by a private GP

If you work for a Spanish employer and will be off for several days, tell your employer you need the baja route and book with your centro de salud. Since 2023 the health service sends the partes electronically to the INSS and your employer; you no longer hand in paper copies. See the Seguridad Social pages on incapacidad temporal. Medical evidence and recognition of leave are two different steps, even for workers posted abroad.

How do you get a sick note online?

1. Ask for the exact requirement. What the document must say, who may sign it, accepted language, deadline and any date-of-assessment rule.
2. Check whether video is suitable. If the recipient requires a physical exam, a specialist or the official baja, an online GP letter is the wrong route.
3. Bring the right information. ID, a symptom timeline, relevant records, and the recipient's form. A doctor cannot confirm dates or findings never assessed.
4. Discuss your health first. The doctor decides what, if anything, can be documented; the assessment may instead lead to in-person care or tests.
5. Check the document. Verify your name, the date and the wording, send it through the accepted channel and keep a copy.

What can a private video GP document, and what can it not?

A video GP can document the consultation, the findings, and recommendations such as rest or avoiding certain duties. It cannot backdate an assessment, certify an illness nobody observed, promise days off without support, or turn a private letter into a baja. Treatment and prescriptions are issued solely at the doctor's discretion, where clinically appropriate, following a genuine evaluation.

Video does not replace required occupational, aviation, maritime, driving or sports fitness exams. A document should not include sensitive history just to sound convincing. If the assessment does not support the wording you asked for, you still leave with the next clinical step; tell the recipient promptly. Our guide to what an online GP in Spain can and cannot treat covers the clinical limits.

Remote employees in Spain: how do you explain illness to your employer?

Notify your employer through its required channel first, then ask HR in writing which document it needs. Your employer needs to understand the absence; your doctor needs to assess your health. Those are two tasks.

A Spanish contract, an overseas employer and a contractor agreement do not share one absence process. Confirm the legal employer, the HR contact for absence, the document name and purpose, the deadline and channel, and whether the Spanish baja applies. A three-part first message works: work impact ("I am unwell and cannot work today"), handover ("the project status is in our shared workspace"), next update ("I will update you after my medical assessment"). Make dates and local times explicit across time zones. Do not promise a return date or a certificate before any assessment.

Common traps: treating being at home as proof you can keep working; copying your medical history to the whole team; assuming a booking guarantees a certificate; and asking the doctor about pay or contract disputes, which belong with HR.

Working in Spain for an overseas employer: what evidence do they accept?

Only your employer can say. Ask HR, in writing, who receives the document, which type and language it needs, the deadline, and whether it accepts an assessment carried out in Spain. "Medical evidence" can mean attendance confirmation, a medical report or an occupational health assessment.

Do not ask the clinician to promise paid leave or acceptance. If the request concerns a past absence, bring records from that time: an assessment today is not evidence of your condition on an earlier date. Describe your real duties (meetings, long screen work, travel, safety-critical tasks). A colleague's old paperwork, a valid prescription or last year's instructions are not your employer's current policy.

Returning to work: do you need a medical assessment?

Not always. A return to work in Spain can involve three separate processes: GP follow-up, the official end of sick leave (alta médica), and an occupational health assessment for your job. Ask who must make the decision, not just which letter to get.

Process	Who handles it	Main limitation
GP follow-up and supporting report	Your treating doctor, including by video	Does not by itself clear you for a specific job
Alta médica (end of baja)	The public health service, the mutua or the INSS, depending on the case	A private consultation cannot transfer that authority
Occupational health assessment	Your employer's prevention service (servicio de prevención)	A general video visit cannot replace it

Article 22 of the Occupational Risk Prevention Act (Ley 31/1995) makes health surveillance generally voluntary, with set exceptions, and keeps medical data confidential: the employer receives only conclusions on fitness and protective measures. Article 37 of the Prevention Services Regulation (RD 39/1997) provides for an assessment after a prolonged absence for health reasons, without fixing one length for every worker. Before booking, check your leave status, describe your real duties, and send records only to the professional assessing you.

Workplace injury: which route applies?

Get care first, tell the treating clinician the injury happened at work, and ask your employer which service handles work injuries. In Spain that is normally the mutua, which manages work accidents and occupational illness for your company, provides the care and issues the baja.

Ask your employer which service to attend, whether there is an incident form, who receives your incident report and sick-leave paperwork, and how to get copies of your records. Employees, self-employed workers and business travellers may follow different routes.

Keep five groups of records together: clinical reports and discharge instructions; test or imaging results; your own dated incident account (date, place, task, what happened, no diagnosis); workplace correspondence; and the documents issued with their submission instructions. None alone proves a claim. Keep complete copies, not cropped screenshots. A bilingual video GP can explain a Spanish report in English, but an explanation is not a certified translation, and a records review is not clearance to return to work. If a report contains an error, ask the issuing service to correct it.

Ill before a job interview: what evidence should you check?

Contact the recruiter first and ask whether evidence is needed at all to reschedule. If so, ask whether they want confirmation of a consultation or a medical statement, which dates, the form, language, deadline and submission route. Keep the reply.

Attendance confirmation does not prove you could not attend an interview; a medical statement is considered where clinically appropriate. A pre-employment fitness exam is a separate process; see our starting-a-job certificate page. If the interview has already passed, say so: the doctor separates the date of the problem from the date of assessment and cannot alter either. If the recruiter rejects the document, ask which requirement was not met. Documentation informs the decision; it does not guarantee another interview date.

What may an employer ask for, and how do you protect your privacy?

An employer may ask for proof of absence or attendance; it does not need your diagnosis by default. Under the General Data Protection Regulation, data must be limited to the stated purpose (Article 5) and health data has extra protection (Article 9). Ley 31/1995, Article 22, separates medical data from fitness conclusions.

Run five checks before sending anything: purpose (appointment, absence, formal leave, adjustment or fitness), document, recipient (a manager arranging cover, HR and occupational health have different roles), channel, and a record of what you sent. Ask why a diagnosis is needed, who would see it and on what legal basis, and where the employee privacy notice is (GDPR Articles 13 and 32). Never alter a signed certificate; ask the clinician whether a narrower document is possible. If HR wants your complete records, ask which question they answer. Check filenames, avoid group chats and long copy lists, and if a file reaches the wrong person, tell HR rather than forwarding it again.

Can I travel while on sick leave in Spain?

Spanish law does not ban travel during a baja (incapacidad temporal) as such. What counts is that the trip fits your illness, does not slow your recovery, and does not stop you attending your check-ups. A trip that does not fit the reason for your leave can cost you the benefit, or your job. Ask the doctor who manages your baja first.

• Talk to your centro de salud doctor, or your mutua if it manages the leave. With anxiety, a few calm days with family may even be part of recovery, but agree it first and ask them to note it.
• Stay reachable. The INSS or the mutua can call you to a review. Missing it without a good reason can suspend your payments.
• Keep your follow-up dates and the confirmation reports (partes de confirmación) your doctor issues.
• Going abroad: check with your doctor and with whoever manages your leave before you book.
• What you post online can be used by an employer to question your leave.

A private GP, Dr. Yelamo included, does not issue or extend a baja and cannot authorise a trip during one. We can help you prepare your questions for the doctor who manages it.

What should you ask an insurer or airline?

An insurer decides coverage; a certificate never does. Ask which documents, invoice and dates it requires and bring its form; see our travel insurance report page. An airline may want evidence for a refund or medical clearance to fly, two different requests; fitness to fly can need an airline form or an in-person exam, as our fit-to-fly page explains. Never travel against medical advice to meet a deadline.

Emergencies

A sick note can wait; an emergency cannot. Call 112 (or 061, the medical emergency number in several regions) or go to the nearest emergency department for chest pain, serious breathing difficulty, sudden facial droop or arm weakness, fainting, a severe allergic reaction, heavy bleeding or a serious injury at work. Video visits are for urgent, non-emergency care; paperwork must never delay care.

Frequently asked questions