Before you start

Padrón certificate from the ayuntamiento
Social security number (NUSS), through employment, a grant or autónomo registration
TIE or NIE
An assigned centro de salud in your district

Step-by-step

1
Register on the padrón first
Municipal registration is the prerequisite for the regional health card. Without it your centro de salud cannot assign you, regardless of your social security position.
In personWho: YouWeek 1–2
2
Get your social security number
If employed, your employer registers you and the number follows. If self-employed you register as autónomo on the income-based contribution scale, with a reduced starter rate for new registrations. Research grant holders are generally brought into the system through their institution — check with it rather than assuming.
In personWho: You
3
Apply for the tarjeta sanitaria at your centro de salud
Take the padrón certificate, your social security document and your TIE to the health centre for your address. The card is issued by the Servicio Andaluz de Salud and is what you present for appointments and prescriptions across Andalusia.
In personWho: You
4
Install ClicSalud+ and the Andalusian health app
Andalusia's patient portal handles appointment booking, prescription renewal and test results, and it removes most of the reason to visit a health centre in person. Set it up when the card is issued rather than when you first need it, because the activation needs identity verification.
Mobile appWho: You
5
Meet your assigned médico de familia
You are allocated a family doctor by address and they are the gateway to every specialist — self-referral is not how the system works. Book a first appointment before you need one, particularly if you take repeat medication.
In personWho: You
6
Take the winter air seriously if anyone in the household has asthma
Granada sits in a bowl ringed by mountains, and cold still weather produces thermal inversions that trap particulates over the city for days at a time. The municipality publishes air quality data and activates measures during episodes. If someone in the household has asthma or COPD, this belongs in your choice of neighbourhood and your conversation with the family doctor.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Padrón certificate
Social security number document
TIE or NIE
Passport
Vaccination and medical records from your home country, ideally translated

Things most newcomers don’t know

Granada's winter air is a genuine health variable, and almost no relocation guide mentions it.

The city sits in a basin between the Sierra Nevada and the hills of the Vega, and on cold windless winter days a thermal inversion traps traffic and heating emissions over the city. Granada has repeatedly recorded among the worst particulate readings of any Spanish city during these episodes. It is seasonal and episodic rather than constant, but for a household with asthma it is a reason to prefer a higher, more open district over the low central streets.

Source: Ayuntamiento de Granada

Residency alone does not give you healthcare — social security does.

The chain is padrón, then social security registration, then the card. Newcomers assume legal residence is enough and arrive at a centro de salud with a TIE expecting to be seen. Entitlement in the ordinary case is contributory, so employment, a grant that carries affiliation, or autónomo registration is what actually opens the door. Non-contributory routes exist but are narrower than people expect.

Source: Seguridad Social

Two teaching hospitals and a health science park mean unusually good access for a city this size.

Granada is served by Virgen de las Nieves and by the Clínico San Cecilio, rebuilt inside the Parque Tecnológico de la Salud alongside university faculties and biotech companies. For a metropolitan area of half a million that is an unusual concentration of specialist medicine and clinical trials. The system was reorganised into a single merged structure in the mid-2010s and then separated again after sustained public protest — which is why older directories and older residents still describe it inconsistently.

Source: Servicio Andaluz de Salud

The card is Andalusian and the app is where the system actually lives.

Health is devolved, so the card, the hospitals and the patient portal are regional — move to Valencia or Madrid and you re-register there. Within Andalusia, ClicSalud+ handles appointments, prescriptions and results, and setting it up early converts most future GP interactions into a two-minute task. People who skip the activation end up queueing at the health centre counter for things the app does.

Source: Servicio Andaluz de Salud

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a TIE alone gives you access to public healthcare.
Assuming a research grant automatically carries social security affiliation — confirm with the institution.
Choosing a low-lying central flat without knowing about the winter inversion episodes.
Not activating ClicSalud+ and queueing at the counter for appointments and prescriptions.
Letting coverage lapse between short academic contracts rather than switching schemes deliberately.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.