A complete expat guide to Spain's emergency numbers — when to call 112 versus a specialist line, what to say in Spanish, how language support works, and the exact information that gets an ambulance, the police or the fire brigade to you in the shortest possible time.
In a real emergency in Spain — a chest-pain episode, a car crash on the AP-7, a break-in at 3am, a kitchen fire — the seconds it takes to remember the right number and the right words can change the outcome.
Spain has a unified European emergency number, 112, but it also keeps specialist lines — 061 for medical emergencies in some regions, 091 for the Policía Nacional, 062 for the Guardia Civil, 080 for the fire brigade, and 092 for the local police. Knowing which one to dial, and what to say first, is one of the most important pieces of practical knowledge any expat in Spain can have.
This guide walks you through every number, how each service is organised regionally, what English-language support to expect, and how to use your health card or private policy when the ambulance arrives.
Coming from the UK with 999, Ireland with 112/999, the USA with 911 or Australia with 000, Spain's multi-number, multi-region setup will catch you out if you don't plan for it.
The single most important fact is that 112 works everywhere in Spain, 24 hours a day, from any phone — landline, Spanish mobile, foreign mobile on roaming, locked SIM or no SIM at all — completely free of charge. If you remember only one number, remember 112. The call centre will triage your situation and dispatch the correct service. The official 112 España portal publishes the full directory and regional variations.
Three other things to know up front:
Here are the six emergency numbers every expat in Spain should have saved in their phone and stuck on the fridge.
The pan-European number for any life-threatening or serious emergency. Connects to your regional emergency centre which dispatches medical, police, fire and rescue services. Free, 24/7, works from any phone, with English-language support across Spain.
The direct medical emergency line in several regions, including Andalucía (EPES 061), Galicia (061 Galicia), Asturias, La Rioja and Ceuta/Melilla. In Madrid the medical service is SUMMA 112. Use 112 if you're unsure which one your region runs.
The Policía Nacional handles serious urban crime, identity documents, terrorism and organised crime. Dial 091 for break-ins, robberies, assaults, missing persons and ID document theft anywhere in Spain's cities and provincial capitals.
The Guardia Civil polices smaller towns, rural areas, motorways, ports and borders. Dial 062 for road accidents on inter-urban roads, rural break-ins, coast or border issues, and incidents away from major cities.
The fire brigade has two direct numbers: 080 for municipal fire services in most cities and 085 for forest fires and rural fire emergencies. 112 will route to the same service. Use these for any fire, smoke, gas leak or rescue from a confined space.
The local police (also called Policía Municipal) handle traffic, parking, ordinances, neighbour disputes, lost property and minor public-order incidents within their municipality. Dial 092 for non-urgent street-level matters in your own town.
Whether you're a tourist on a two-week break or you've lived in Spain for 20 years, this guide is built for the moment you genuinely need help.
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Get a Travel Insurance Quote →112 isn't just a phone number — it's a coordinated regional dispatch system. Understanding how it works helps you give the right information first.
When you dial 112 anywhere in Spain, your call routes to the regional 112 centre. A triage operator (gestor de demanda) asks four critical questions in order:
While they're asking, they're already alerting the relevant service in parallel. Stay on the line; the operator will give you instructions (CPR, recovery position, isolating a gas leak, where to wait) until help arrives. Each regional 112 centre dispatches differently:
| Region | Medical service | Operating body |
|---|---|---|
| Madrid | SUMMA 112 + SAMUR-PC | Comunidad / Ayuntamiento |
| Cataluña | SEM (Sistema d'Emergències Mèdiques) | Generalitat de Catalunya |
| Andalucía | EPES 061 | Empresa Pública de Emergencias Sanitarias |
| Comunidad Valenciana | SAMU | Conselleria de Sanitat |
| Galicia | 061 Galicia (Urxencias Sanitarias) | Sergas |
| País Vasco | Emergencias 112 / Emergencias Osakidetza | Gobierno Vasco |
| Baleares | SAMU 061 Illes Balears | IB-Salut |
| Canarias | SUC (Servicio de Urgencias Canario) | Servicio Canario de Salud |
If you're in a rural area with patchy signal, install the regional 112 app for your community — they auto-share GPS coordinates the moment you connect, and most support SMS as a backup when voice fails.
For a life-threatening medical situation, the fastest route to an ambulance with a doctor on board depends on where you are.
The historic medical number 061 still works in many regions but has been partially absorbed into 112 in others:
The major regional medical emergency services:
SUMMA 112 (Madrid) — The Servicio de Urgencia Médica de la Comunidad de Madrid operates the regional ambulance fleet, running basic and advanced life-support units (UVI-móvil) and coordinating with hospital A&E for stroke and STEMI protocols.
SAMUR-PC (Madrid) — The municipal emergency and rescue service handles street-level emergencies inside the City of Madrid. Jointly dispatched with SUMMA via 112.
SEM (Cataluña) — Sistema d'Emergències Mèdiques covers Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida and Girona via 112. EPES 061 (Andalucía) runs one of Spain's most robust pre-hospital systems with strong helicopter coverage of Sierra Nevada and the Costa del Sol.
For any of these, the key Spanish phrase is: "Necesito una ambulancia, urgente". Follow with location, number affected and what's happening. The Sistema Nacional de Salud (Ministerio de Sanidad) coordinates national stroke, heart-attack and trauma protocols, so the chain is the same across regions.
Public ambulances take you to the nearest public hospital. With private health insurance you can request transfer to your insurer's hospital once stabilised — but the first stop is always the closest A&E that can save your life. Travel insurance handles repatriation costs if you need to return home for follow-up.
Spain has three police forces operating in parallel. Knowing which one polices your situation matters because they'll take the denuncia (police report) and the report governs everything afterwards.
For any insurance claim — stolen passport, mugging, car break-in — you'll need an official denuncia. The right force depends on where the crime happened.
091 — Policía Nacional (CNP). National force in every city and provincial capital. Handles serious urban crime, robberies, assaults, terrorism, immigration, ID documents (NIE/TIE/DNI) and passport theft. Runs the foreign tourist help line (SATE).
062 — Guardia Civil. Military-style police covering rural areas, smaller towns, motorways (Agrupación de Tráfico), coasts, borders, environment (SEPRONA) and mountain rescue (GREIM). If you crash on the AP-7 or N-340, Guardia Civil de Tráfico responds.
092 — Policía Local. Town-hall police: parking, in-town traffic, by-laws, noise complaints, lost property and drunk-and-disorderly calls. In Catalunya the regional force is the Mossos d'Esquadra (112/088); in the País Vasco the Ertzaintza; in Navarra the Policía Foral.
| Situation | Number to dial | Force responding |
|---|---|---|
| Break-in to your flat in Madrid | 091 or 112 | Policía Nacional |
| Break-in to your villa in a small Pueblo | 062 or 112 | Guardia Civil |
| Car crash on the AP-7 | 112 (or 062) | Guardia Civil de Tráfico |
| Mugged in a city centre | 091 or 112 | Policía Nacional |
| Noisy neighbours at 3am | 092 | Policía Local |
| Lost passport in Barcelona | 088 / 112 (Mossos) | Mossos d'Esquadra |
| Wildfire near a country road | 112 or 085 | Bomberos + Guardia Civil |
| Drowning at a beach | 112 | Salvamento Marítimo + Policía |
If in doubt, dial 112 and let the operator route you. The cost of a wrong choice is at most a 30-second transfer to the correct dispatcher.
Beyond the main numbers, Spain has specialist services for fires, water rescues, mountain incidents and civil protection emergencies.
080 — Municipal Bomberos. Fire brigade for cities and large municipalities. Dial 080 for house and flat fires, smoke, gas leaks, lift entrapment, road traffic extrications, and water leaks above your ceiling.
085 — Forest fires. Operated by the regional fire and rural agents service. Spain's summer fire season (June–October) is increasingly severe; if you spot smoke in the countryside, dial 085 or 112. They coordinate with the central Dirección General de Protección Civil y Emergencias.
900 202 202 — Salvamento Marítimo. Spain's coastguard. Free national number for any sea rescue, vessel in distress, or swimmer in trouble offshore. Also reachable via VHF channel 16 from a boat, or 112 from a phone.
Mountain rescue. The Guardia Civil's GREIM handle alpine emergencies in the Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada, Picos de Europa and the Sistema Central. Dial 112 and ask for "rescate de montaña".
Protección Civil and Cruz Roja. Protección Civil coordinates large-scale civil emergencies — floods, earthquakes, evacuations — and runs the ES-Alert SMS system that broadcasts warnings to every mobile in a defined area. The Spanish Red Cross runs beach lifeguards, ambulance reserves and humanitarian response, and is dispatched as part of any 112 response when needed.
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Memorise (or screenshot to your lock screen) these phrases. They're the exact sentences trained Spanish call-takers expect to hear first.
To open the call: "Hola, necesito ayuda" (I need help) — "¿Habla inglés, por favor?" (Do you speak English?) — "Es una emergencia" (It's an emergency).
For medical: "Necesito una ambulancia, urgente" (I need an ambulance) — "No respira" (He/she is not breathing) — "Tiene dolor en el pecho" (chest pain) — "Ha tenido un accidente" (has had an accident) — "Está inconsciente" (is unconscious).
For police: "Necesito la policía" (I need the police) — "Me han robado" (I've been robbed) — "Han entrado en mi casa" (someone has broken in) — "Hay un accidente de tráfico" (there's a road accident).
For fire: "Hay un incendio" (there's a fire) — "Huele a gas" (it smells of gas) — "Hay mucho humo" (there's a lot of smoke).
Giving location: "Estoy en [calle, número, ciudad]" (I'm at street X, city Y) — "Estoy en la carretera [N-340/AP-7], kilómetro [X]" (I'm on road X at km Y) — "Estoy en el [primer] piso" (I'm on the [first] floor).
If you don't know any of these and the operator can't switch to English immediately, the magic word is "inglés" — say it once and the system will transfer you within seconds.
When the ambulance arrives, the paramedics need a small amount of information to triage you correctly. Have it ready.
Identification. They'll ask for DNI, NIE, TIE or passport. If you can't speak, they'll search for a wallet card or phone medical-ID screen.
Spanish health card (Tarjeta Sanitaria Individual, TSI). If you're registered in the public system, your TSI gives the receiving hospital instant access to your medical history, allergies and current medications. If you don't have one yet, your EHIC/GHIC provides emergency cover under EU reciprocal arrangements; the hospital will note the card number and bill the issuing country, not you.
Private health insurance policy. If you hold cover with Sanitas, Caser Salud or another DGSFP-regulated insurer, paramedics can transfer you to your insurer's preferred hospital once stabilised. Keep your insurer's 24-hour emergency line in your phone — most also operate a "second-opinion" doctor service that can guide the home decision before you even dial 112.
Medication and allergies. Have a list of anticoagulants, insulin, beta-blockers and any recent chemotherapy or transplant medication. Allergies to penicillin, contrast dye, latex and shellfish are especially important. A medical-alert bracelet or phone wallpaper can save minutes.
Next of kin. Have one Spanish contact and one home-country contact written somewhere accessible. The hospital will call them once you're admitted.
If you have private health insurance and the situation is serious but not immediately life-threatening, call your insurer's 24-hour line instead of 112. They'll arrange an ambulance to their own network hospital and you'll skip the public urgencias queue. Save that number to favourites today.
Not every health issue is a 112 call. Spain has well-organised non-emergency routes too.
If you have a fever at 3am, a wound that needs stitches but you can walk, a child with an ear infection, or you've run out of essential medication, you have several options before dialling 112.
Puntos de atención continuada (PAC) or centros de salud de urgencias. Every Spanish town has at least one centro de salud open 24 hours for urgent but not life-threatening cases. Drive or taxi yourself; you'll be seen by a GP and referred to A&E only if necessary. Locate yours on the Ministerio de Sanidad portal.
Pharmacies (farmacias de guardia). Every district has at least one 24-hour duty pharmacy, with the rota posted on every pharmacy's front door. Spanish pharmacists can dispense some medications without prescription, assess minor injuries and advise on next steps.
Insurer 24-hour medical helplines. Private insurers all operate free 24-hour video or phone-consultation services. A doctor will assess you within minutes and either reassure, prescribe (via electronic receta) or send an ambulance.
Other key numbers. 91 562 04 20 — Instituto Nacional de Toxicología, 24-hour line for poisonings, snake bites, mushroom ingestion and overdoses. 024 — national mental health and suicide prevention line, run by the Ministry of Health, 24/7, free and confidential. 900 107 917 — Cruz Roja Te Escucha emotional support line.
Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician, Valencian, English, French and German are all available in 112 centres. Here's how the regions actually handle it.
Each regional 112 centre runs its own multilingual roster:
Two practical tools cut through any language worry:
After helping thousands of expats navigate Spanish emergencies, here are the six errors we see most often.
The questions expats ask us most often about Spanish emergency calls and emergency cover.
Yes. 112 works from any mobile connected to any Spanish network — UK, US, Australian SIMs on roaming — and even from a phone with no SIM. The call is free everywhere in the EU. AML auto-location works on most modern smartphones too, sending your exact GPS to the dispatcher.
Public ambulances dispatched by 112 / SUMMA / SEM / EPES 061 are free at the point of use for anyone they treat in Spain — residents, tourists, undocumented persons. The cost is recovered from your home country (via EHIC/GHIC) or your private insurer. You'll never be asked to pay the crew directly.
Yes. Every regional 112 centre provides English-language support, either via direct English-speaking operators or rapid three-way interpreter calls. Say "English, please" at the start. In tourist regions (Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Mallorca, Canaries) an English-speaking primary operator is very likely.
For anything immediately life-threatening — chest pain, severe bleeding, unconsciousness, suspected stroke — dial 112 first, then your insurer. For urgent but not life-threatening issues (high fever, possible fracture, severe abdominal pain), call your private insurer's 24-hour line first; they'll dispatch their own ambulance to a network hospital and you'll skip the public A&E queue.
Both work in Madrid, both arrive in an ambulance, both are dispatched via 112. SUMMA 112 belongs to the Comunidad de Madrid and covers the entire region. SAMUR-PC belongs to the Ayuntamiento de Madrid and covers the city itself, focused on street-level incidents. The 112 dispatcher decides who's nearest.
No. The 112 operator does not need your ID number to dispatch help. You'll be asked for it later by the ambulance crew or at hospital reception, but never as a condition of help arriving. Spanish emergency services do not check immigration status before treating you.
For any theft, lost item or assault you want to claim, you must file a denuncia within 24–72 hours. The simplest route is online via the Policía Nacional portal (confirm in person within 72 hours) or directly at any commissariat. Bring ID and a list of stolen items with values. Your insurer will not pay without this document.
A 112 call gets help to you, but it doesn't pay the bills. Travel insurance covers repatriation, emergency dental, evacuation, missed flights, hospital top-up and a family member flying out. Spanish health insurance handles private hospital networks, scheduled care and routine cover. Together they form the full safety net — calling 112 is just step one.
Dialling 112 gets an ambulance to your door. It doesn't pay for repatriation, a private hospital room, a relative's emergency flight, or the cost of an air ambulance back to the UK, Ireland or Australia. 247 Expat Insurance arranges Spanish travel and health insurance with DGSFP-regulated insurers, so you have the full safety net — emergency services on one end, full financial cover on the other.
Get a Travel Insurance QuoteWe arrange Spanish travel, health, home, car and life insurance for British, Irish, American, Australian, Canadian and South African expats living in or visiting Spain. Every policy is issued by an insurer regulated by the Dirección General de Seguros y Fondos de Pensiones — Spain's national insurance regulator — so claims are paid under Spanish law, in Spain, by a Spanish entity. No grey-area UK policies that may not respond to a Spanish medical emergency.
