Now that really is great to hear because I have been trying to get to the bottom of this for years. Another forum has been doing the same and we have never found anyone who was successful. So just to confirm. You had not received a UK state pension ? You became a resident after 2012?. You never contributed? You were not receiving healthcare via your partner?
What exactly did you provide the INSS with? I get told by INSS each year in June that my healthcare will stop after 3 months of not having my work contract renewed. I have made 10 years of contributions so have 5 years permanent residence. I have asked UK for a letter but it they say it will only be issued as part of S1. INSS say that free healthcare will not be issued unless I show a S1 or I contribute.

I can only explain the procedure as I went through it in 2014 - I had been a resident since 2000 - I was living with my Spanish partner and she was in FT employment and so her contributions covered my healthcare cover. When we split I was no longer covered but a friend told me that as I had in excess of 5 years residency I could get a SIPS card by getting the DWP letter (to prove no Uk health cover) and applying to INSS with proof of residency etc. Which I did and it was all processed without any issues.

When I became eligible for my UK State pension in 2021 I applied for my S1 and followed the process to register it so now the UK provides my health cover and makes the payment to Spain.

I know other people who have received SIPs cards following this procedure (all in the Alicante area) Years ago I used to write articles for a magazine published here in English (now out of print) and have written an article on this topic.

I have no idea if this is still valid but as you say it is still on the UK Gov living in Spain pages so I would assume it is still valid.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/healthca...canary-islands

Yep- as I expected you were resident before 2012. This is when PP changed the law. All EU 5 year residents were given a grace period allowing them to receive free healthcare as long as they were registered. ( Spanish nats also got free healthcare then - as previously they didn't). After 2012 the law changed and it no longer applied. You no longer get free healthcare after 5 years although there was another rule change that Sanchez brought in that uk nats claimed gave them free healthcare but again they misunderstood it- the law allows persons with no access to healthcare free treatment in spain- however this effectively was designed for persons with no papers ( illegal immigrants without proof of country) and not expats who would have been on the convenio or had access to NHS. The upshot is that you can't get free Spanish healthcare without contributing to SS or the S1 ( or you become a Spanish national). If you stop working your healthcard gets stopped after 3 months unless you sign up for paro.The uk government website is worded wrong and it has been discussed lots of times by people. But again I have never heard of anyone getting without them having various other things in place like yourself
i

Oh thats amazing! Thank you so much Lynn, I'm out there with him next week so can hopefully get it sorted

I think we all knew that was coming didn't we?

Damn that UK website, they've been told what they're saying is not correct but despite the potential it has to majorly affect, or even possibly destroy people's lives, seem to totally unwiing to listen.

Careful that information is not from any official city council's website. It is not 100% arcuate.
This is the correct website.
Concello de Santiago de Compostela The English section has nothing about services these are only covered in Spanish or Galician.
Notice the pop up it is all about getting a cita previa, That is an appointment. You will need to make one -
Here is the city councils website. about how to get a pardon.
Padrón Municipal de Habitantes. Ayuntamiento de Santiago de Compostela
You may find that as this is August and peak vacation time getting a cita immediately might be difficult. There are dias festivos coming up too.
Good luck.

The people responsible in UK for providing this information seemed totally unaware of what the real situation is. I phoned the number given above around a year ago. I pointed out that I had never heard of anyone getting free healthcare on the basis of solely having the status of permanent residence yet it says this is the case on the website.The woman firstly tried to say that you need the letter de exportación proving you are not covered by the NHS which you present to INSS. When I asked how you got this she said you needed the S1. When I pointed out that people under state retirement age cant get that she then said I would get free healthcare under the category of having permanent residence!! She then said that they just assess if you qualify for the S1 and that it is up to the Spanish to decide if you get healthcare. We basically went round in circles. I asked if she knew of anyone getting healthcare via this route and she said they didn't have that data. All in all you just go round in circles. People may remember when the Universal healthcare law was brought in about 4 years ago- the expat community immediately claimed it allowed free healthcare for all residents and that you no longer need to pay the convenio or have private healthcare for your residency application. Local English speaking radio stations joined forces with another English platform claiming this was permitted and suggested people cancel their convenio and wave the law at various funcionarios. Of course it all came to nothing but the government website actually changed its information claiming that it was the law. A few months later they removed the wording- everything suggests that whoever is compiling the information is not doing so in any accordance with the Spanish authorities!. Anyway as I say if anyone can prove me wrong I will be very happy but so far when anyone does say they have it there usually is a reason that exempts them. I have met people who claim to have it but are simply confused. One person tried to tell me I was wrong because they had it and didn't contribute but failed to realize that her husband was automino. Others on Facebook claim that the UK embassy deal with it ( which is not true). Some say you get it by making voluntary SS payments as in uk but again that is nonsense. Others think you get it as a Spanish tax payer but many have it because they have been here over 10 years before the law changed. Anyway if anyone has got it recently and never worked and got residency after 2012 please post ( but dont say it is a neighbour or friend because then it is harder to confirm)

Ronnyone - which region do you live in? I know Brits in my village who got their SIPS cards before they got their S1s (they have never worked in Spain)

I know Pellicer and Heredia - they are a big legal outfit with several offices and their website still says it is possible

https://expatsmagazine.org/spain-healthcare-system/

​​Unfortunately I have have heard lots of people talk about neighbours and friends getting it but none seem to be members of any forums I know and without them actually outlining the process it just becomes a rumour. Many when pressed just say they automatically got it - which is simply not true. You have to register. Also this applies to all nationalities not just Brits incidentally. So again - just one person who can confirm they got it would make my day! ( SIP card is simply Valencia not national card incidentally)

The link to the law firm just reiterates the UK government advice- so I don't think they are actually aware of the reality. Again might be worth phoning them to see if they had any success doing it but I bet it is because people who arrived before 2012.
Incidentally there was a poster here a few months ago saying that her card didn't work as she had had her initial healthcare via her husband's S1. After his death her card was cancelled despite 5 years residency- so she has to pay the convenio.

Initially I got an S1 as my husband became a state pensioner (he is 7 years older), and as soon as I started getting my own state pension I applied for, and registered with INSS, an S1 in my own right as I did not want to risk that happening (even though I was resident before 2012 but did not want to go through the hoops of having to ask for the legislation letter and apply for healthcare "sin recursos"). I agree that the information on the UK Government website is just wrong.

I found this website in Spanish, it doesn't specifically explain anything about British residents, and foreign (non-EU) residents who've never worked in Spain appear to fall into this category:

So it all appears to be down to your region when it comes to what coverage you get, how you apply for it, etc... also as Britons are a special case any info on the Internet is probably wrong as we've already found out.

Also, as in almost every area of life I suspect that it depends on how the worker in the office interprets the rules that are laid down.

Rosemary

Have you read the about us section of the website you have linked too?

Just a marketing website.

It definitely depends on region and exactly when you registered. People in Adalucia in 2019 got free healthcare for a short time as the regional government interpreted Sanchez's new law as universal for everyone- this then got closed and now you need to use the convenio.
I think if it did exist we would have had members confirming this as there must be some people who are not retired, have not worked, been here after 2012 and have 5 years residence. So far I have never found one- many have claimed to have it but when questioned usually I find they have it through a different route. There are also the odd anomaly and there were definitely illegal ways of doing it. I met a coworker who said they were told to be automino for a year so as to get it then stop the automino and it will continue. Problem is that it is never clear if the parents have used a doctor but just take the kids who will get it irrespective of the parents. So again - please one person confirm they have it.

Well you've picked out just the last bio out of the four people who run that website, there is also a lawyer, administrator, and an insurance broker.

In any case, here's another website of a group who are highlighting how the 2018 law isn't being properly applied in regions. The English PDF link takes you to a summary with a map on the last page highlighting how different each region is.