Society and daily life in Spain

Spain has a public national health system (Sistema Nacional de Salud) that is paid for with taxes and that covers all legal residents.

• To use it you ask for the health card (tarjeta sanitaria) at your health centre (centro de salud), after you register at the town hall (empadronamiento).
• Your first stop is the family doctor (médico de cabecera) at the health centre. He or she can send you to a specialist (especialista) or to the hospital.
• For an emergency, call 112, the single European emergency number. You can also go to the emergency room (urgencias) of a hospital.
• Medicines (medicamentos) are bought in a pharmacy (farmacia), which has a green cross. With a prescription (receta) from the public system you pay only a part of the price.
• Vaccination of children follows the official calendar and is free. Children under 16 are covered on the card of the family.

Exam tip: Emergency number: 112. Police: 091 (Policía Nacional), 062 (Guardia Civil).

Education in Spain is free and compulsory from 6 to 16 years old. It has several stages.

• Infant education (educación infantil) is for children from 0 to 6 and is not compulsory; the second cycle (3–6) is free in public schools.
• Primary education (educación primaria) is from 6 to 12 and compulsory secondary education (ESO) from 12 to 16. Afterwards a student can do the Bachillerato (two years) to go to university, or vocational training (formación profesional).
• The university entrance exam is called EBAU (also PAU or EvAU, depending on the region). Spain has public and private universities and also offers distance learning (UNED).
• There are public schools (colegios públicos), private schools and “concertados”, which are private but receive public money. The school year runs from September to June.
• The school gives the child a report (boletín de notas) and the title of Graduado en Educación Secundaria at the end of ESO.

Workers in Spain have a contract, a salary, paid holidays and social protection.

• The work contract (contrato de trabajo) can be permanent (indefinido) or temporary (temporal). The Estatuto de los Trabajadores is the main law about work.
• The minimum wage is called the salario mínimo interprofesional (SMI) and is fixed by the Government each year. A worker has the right to at least 30 calendar days of paid holiday a year, and the normal working week is 40 hours.
• Employers and workers pay contributions to Social Security (Seguridad Social), which pays pensions, unemployment benefit and sick pay. The retirement age is gradually rising toward 67.
• If you lose your job you can ask for unemployment benefit (prestación por desempleo, “el paro”) at the public employment service (SEPE), and register as a job seeker (demandante de empleo).
• Trade unions (sindicatos) defend workers’ rights, and workers have the right to strike. The main taxes are IRPF (income tax) and IVA (value-added tax, general rate 21%).

Getting around and getting your papers in order are part of daily life, and the CCSE asks about both.

• Big cities have a metro (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Bilbao…), buses and trains for the area (cercanías). Many cities have a transport card with a lower price for regular users.
• The national railway company is Renfe, and the high-speed train is called AVE. Madrid is connected by AVE to Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia and many other cities. The road network is among the largest in Europe.
• The DNI (Documento Nacional de Identidad) is the identity card of Spaniards. Foreigners have the NIE and the TIE; the driving licence (carnet de conducir) is needed to drive. You can drive from the age of 18.
• To be on the municipal register you go to the town hall (padrón). To rent or buy a flat you sign a contract (contrato de alquiler or escritura). Public offices often work with an appointment (cita previa), which you ask for on the internet or by phone.
• Recycling is common: yellow container for plastic and cans, blue for paper and cardboard, green for glass.