Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 12th October 2009
Spain: Expats slammed for “Scalpel Tourism”
The Olive Press report today on tensions between the Spanish Health Service and overseas holiday home owners who are alleged to be stretching finite resources.
UK residents are allegedly visiting their holiday homes just for treatment and return home as soon as it is complete. In some cases it is possible to receive treatment in the Spanish system for operations that would not be provided in the UK and in a high number of cases, the waiting lists are considerably shorter in Spain than those in the UK. The most sought-after procedures are hip and cataract operations.
“We get an increasing number of cases of foreigners who, taking advantage of the fact that they own a home on the Costa del Sol and that their own country does not cover all that we offer in Andalucía, decide to come here,” said the Costa del Sol Hospital general manager, Antonio Perez.
Retirement is one of the
most resilient segments in the overseas property market and
medical tourism has become an important industry trend.
Full story from
The Olive Press.
Related Links