Immigration and Health Care: A Case Study of the Spanish Experience

This report is a literature review of documents pertaining to migrant health care in Spain. It investigates the literature written since 2004, the next most recent literature review, including research and changes in legislation. The report argues that Spain’s migrant health care system is both newer and more comprehensive in its approach to treating migrants than past migrant health care systems in Europe. The paper further argues that recent studies have helped to reveal new areas in which Spain’s migrant health care system can improve. Spain’s migrant situation mirrors that of other European states in certain ways, argues the report, and those other states should consider Spain’s migrant health system when designing their own policies. Fundamentally, however, the report concedes that each state faces a different situation and calls for further research on the health of migrants in European countries similar to those efforts in Spain.