Step · Health
Register your S1 form for public healthcare as an EU pensioner
If you live in Spain on a pension paid by another EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, that country’s insurance body can issue an S1 form. You register it in Spain through Social Security (INSS), and your regional health service then handles the health card.
- Why it matters
- The S1 is the paper that shows the country paying your pension is also responsible for your healthcare in Spain. Pensioners with an S1 do not need the special agreement (convenio especial) to use the public health system.
- When
- You receive a pension from another EU/EEA country, Switzerland or the UK, and you live in Spain or are moving your habitual residence here.
- Official page
- Registrar formulario S1 asistencia sanitaria en España (service page)
- Last checked
- 25 Oct 2026
In the guide: the 4 steps, what to bring (5 items), the office with addresses and hours, and 4 Easy to miss lines, with every official source.
One Easy to miss, on us
The S1 is requested from the insurance body of the country that pays your pension, not from Spain, and is then registered in the country where you live.