European health insurance card

Call me pessimistic, but whenever I have to go anywhere near a social security office, a post office, a payment office or any other building which deals with official paperwork, my hands begin to sweat and my stress levels rise as I try desperately to get in the right queue and take all the correct documentation with me. So what a pleasant surprise it was to get my European health insurance card within 30 minutes at the local social security office in Fuengirola recently. Stupidly (on my part) I have lived here for 14 years and never carried this card, or anything similar when visiting the UK. It´s scary to think that if I had required any medical attention in England during the frequent visits I have made over the years, I would have had to pay for it. So if you are working in Spain and paying social security payments every month, or if you are unemployed and receiving benefits, make sure you go down to the social security office with your Residencia,or other identification, and any paperwork which may be relevant, and they will print you out a European health insurance card while you wait. This covers you for medical treatment throughout Europe for 12 months, and will put your mind at rest if you are thinking of travelling in Europe.