Almost 800,000 people in Spain live more than an hour's drive from a hospital, according to a recent study by the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Valencia. In Catalonia, more than 80% of the population lives within a 15-minute drive of a hospital center, a situation that contrasts with that of other autonomous communities.
Hospital Accessibility Improves in Catalonia
The report, published in an international journal, reveals that most inhabitants of Barcelona, Girona, and Tarragona are within the rapid access threshold to hospitals. In Catalonia, more than 80% of the population is less than a 15-minute drive from a hospital. This figure remains at similar levels to the Basque Country and surpasses that of other regions such as the Canary Islands or the Valencian Community, where the percentage is around 75%.
The map created by the research team shows notable differences in access to public healthcare. While in the Community of Madrid 91.86% of the population has a hospital within 15 minutes, in Castilla-La Mancha more than 35% of residents live more than half an hour away from a hospital center. Similar situations are observed in Castilla y León and Extremadura.
Persistent territorial inequalities
The study identifies an extensive territorial strip where travel times exceed one hour. This area primarily affects parts of Cuenca, Guadalajara, Soria, Teruel, and Zaragoza. 22.24% of Spanish territory is more than an hour away from a hospital, while only 8.7% is located less than 15 minutes away.
In the country as a whole, over 74% of the population, around 35.9 million people, live within 15 minutes of a hospital. However, the proportion of people who need more than an hour to access this service has fallen from 1.91% in 2010 to 1.62% in 2024. Researcher Virgilio Pérez highlights the improvement, although he warns that structural inequalities persist in certain territories.
"More than 74% of the resident population in Spain lived less than 15 minutes from a hospital in 2024. The proportion needing more than an hour has decreased, pointing to a possible positive effect of healthcare planning and infrastructure investments" - Virgilio Pérez, University of Valencia
A replicable model for other essential services
The work does not only analyze healthcare. The methodology developed is scalable and can be applied to other basic services, such as educational centers, transport stations, courts, or emergency services. 45.47% of the Spanish territory is located between 30 and 60 minutes from a hospital, and 23.59% between 15 and 30 minutes.
The authors emphasize that, despite advances, the improvement is limited and does not eliminate structural differences. Quick access to hospitals remains an outstanding issue in large areas of the peninsular interior, while in Catalonia the situation remains among the most favorable in the State