How to choose an aesthetic clinic in Spain

If you live on the Costa del Sol, or spend part of the year here, you will have noticed aesthetic clinics on almost every high street. Some work to rigorous medical standards. Others cut corners that are hard to spot from the outside. The rules are not the same as at home, so the checks you might rely on elsewhere do not always carry over. This guide explains what to check in Spain, how to check it, and what to ask, in English.

How aesthetic medicine works in Spain

Rules differ from country to country. In some, non-medical practitioners can legally inject fillers. In Spain, injectable treatments such as dermal fillers and anti-wrinkle injections are medical procedures. A doctor prescribes them and is responsible for them, and they are carried out in a licensed healthcare centre.

That is why a beauty salon is not the right place. A salon is not a healthcare establishment and cannot offer medical treatments. An aesthetic medicine clinic is. It needs a licence from the regional health authority and appears in that region's register of healthcare centres, with aesthetic medicine listed among its authorised services.

One useful detail: aesthetic medicine is not an official medical specialty in Spain. It is practised by doctors with postgraduate training in the field, as well as by dermatologists and plastic surgeons. Rather than looking for one particular title, look at the doctor's experience with the treatment you want and at how the clinic works.

Seven things you can check

1. Licence and registration

Ask for the clinic's healthcare registration number. In Andalusia this is the NICA number, which clinics usually show on their website and at the entrance. Regional health authorities keep public registers of healthcare centres, so the number can be checked. If a clinic cannot give you its number, walk away.

2. A registered doctor

Every doctor practising in Spain must be registered with the medical college of their province, the Colegio de Médicos. Ask for the full name and registration number (número de colegiado) of the doctor who will assess you. Most provincial colleges have a public search, and the national medical council (Organización Médica Colegial) offers a nationwide one.

3. Who will actually treat you

Ask who will carry out the treatment, by name, and whether it is the same person who assesses you. Be wary if a doctor's name is on the paperwork but someone you have not met does the injecting. In a series of filler complications treated at a university hospital, several had been caused by beauticians or by people with no known medical training ^[3].

4. A proper medical consultation first

Before anything is injected, a doctor should take your medical history: conditions, medication, allergies and previous aesthetic treatments, including which products were used. Then they should examine you and explain what is realistic for you. A good consultation sometimes ends with "I would not recommend this". That is a good sign.

5. Written informed consent

Spanish law (Law 41/2002 on patient autonomy) requires written consent for invasive procedures. The form should explain what will be done, the expected effects, the rare but serious risks and the alternatives. Read it calmly, ask about anything unclear and keep a copy. A review of clinical trials with hyaluronic acid fillers highlights consent, patient information and practitioner training as key to safety ^[4].

6. A CE-marked product you can trace

Dermal fillers are medical devices and must carry a CE mark. You should be able to find out exactly what is being injected: the product name, batch number and expiry date should be recorded in your notes. Ideally, the pack is opened in front of you. In the hospital series mentioned above, more than half of the products involved were either uncertified or of unknown origin ^[3].

7. A plan for complications

Serious complications from fillers are uncommon. Most can be avoided with sound anatomical knowledge, careful technique and the right choice of patient and product ^[1]. They can still happen in experienced hands. In a survey of 52 experienced trainers, 62% had had at least one injection into a blood vessel ^[2]. What changes the outcome is recognising it and acting at once: with immediate treatment, most of those cases settled within two weeks ^[2]. Loss of vision is exceptional, but when it happens it rarely recovers ^[5].

Ask whether the clinic has an emergency protocol and, for hyaluronic acid, whether the enzyme that dissolves it is kept on site. Ask who you should call if something goes wrong that evening or at the weekend.

Language, paperwork and your doctor at home

Ask for the consultation and the consent form in a language you understand well. If the form only exists in Spanish, ask the doctor to go through it with you point by point before you sign.

When you finish, ask for a short written report with the product, batch number, area treated and date. It will help any doctor who sees you later, here or in your home country, and it saves guesswork if you ever need another treatment.

Aesthetic treatments are private medicine. Check with your insurer before assuming that any follow-up care would be covered.

If you are here for the season, plan around your dates. Fillers and anti-wrinkle injections need about two weeks to settle before the result can be judged, so avoid booking just before you fly home. Ask the clinic what happens if you notice a problem once you have left.