Record numbers of foreign doctors fill Spain's healthcare gaps. But is it enough?
Medical degrees account for almost 80% of the homologations of foreign studies in Spain. The government defends the system as a response to demand, while professionals warn that the problem is not a lack of doctors, but working conditions and planning.
Spain validated 65,319 foreign university degrees in 2025 — 76.3% of all academic recognition decisions issued that year — according to a new report from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
Of those, a record 30,303 were medical degrees, making healthcare the single biggest beneficiary of Spain's overhauled degree recognition system.
The figures highlight a broader trend across Europe: as ageing populations strain public health systems, governments are turning to internationally trained professionals to fill critical gaps. Spain's numbers are striking in scale — nearly 80% of all professional-category approvals went to doctors, far outpacing nurses (8.1%), health psychologists (3.1%), and physiotherapists (2.1%).
"Migration is an economic driver, a driver of knowledge and a driver of social transformation. That is why we are committed to the regularisation of immigrants and why we are also committed to improving the accreditation system," said the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, quoted in a press release .
The government argues that unblocking the system is a question of justice and economic efficiency. The Ministry has managed to reduce the stock of pending applications from 122,890 to 72,337 files between October 2024 and March 2026, a fall of 41.1%. Moreover, for the first time since 2014, more applications were resolved than were registered.
Good working conditions?
However, the growing weight of foreign doctors reopens a fundamental debate on health planning. For Manuel Martínez-Sellés, president of the Official College of Doctors of Madrid (ICOMEM), the key is not the absolute number of professionals available on the market.
"There is a growing structural demand for doctors due to the ageing of the population, the increase in chronic illnesses and the expansion of health services," he explained to Euronews via email. However, he warned of a historical problem. "For years, there has been a certain bottleneck in internal training: the number of MIR places has not grown at the same rate as the needs of the system".
Martínez-Sellés insists that standardisation should not become an alibi to avoid pending reforms.
"If the conditions offered were adequate, there would be no problem of a lack of doctors," he said, although he acknowledges that the same conditions that may not seem sufficient to a Spanish professional may be attractive to professionals from other countries.
In his opinion, the recruitment of foreign doctors "can alleviate tensions in the short term", especially in areas suffering from a critical shortage, but "does not in itself constitute a structural solution".
The ministerial report confirms that most of the approvals come from Latin America. Colombia is the country with the second highest number of favourable resolutions (16,924), followed by Venezuela, Cuba and Argentina. In this regard, Martínez-Sellés stresses that the common language and the possibility of starting the process telematically without residing in Spain are key factors when embarking on this process.
How does the sector view the arrival of foreign professionals?
In response to criticism of a possible lowering of standards, the president of ICOMEM is categorical.
"The quality of medical training varies from country to country, but accreditation processes exist precisely to ensure that professionals meet equivalent standards," he said, adding that questioning the origin of doctors is a mistake, and the focus should be on the transparency and rigour of the system.
"The incorporation of foreign talent should be seen as a complementary measure within a broader strategy that includes long-term planning," Martínez-Sellés said.
That tends to be the general opinion in a profession that, in general, seems to have welcomed newcomers with open arms. That, at least, is the case of Bulgarian Vangeliya Blagoeva Atanasova, who decided years ago to move to Madrid with her husband, a Spaniard who is also a doctor, for reasons of family reconciliation.
"My experience has been excellent, in the sense of being welcomed by my colleagues", this specialist in Gynaecology and Obstetrics, who is currently working at the Gregorio Marañón Maternity and Children's Hospital, told Euronews. "I think it is a universal thing here, from what I have spoken to other foreign colleagues".
The problem, Martínez-Sellés stresses, lies at a structural level. "There is not a lack of doctors, but rather a lack of doctors willing to work in certain conditions that are unacceptable." The president of the Official College of Doctors of Madrid points to the precariousness, seasonality and work overload that, paradoxically, push many Spanish professionals to emigrate.
The government plans to standardise the six-month legal deadlines by 2027 and to create a National Office for Academic Recognition. In the meantime, the debate remains open: are homologations a necessary solution to strengthen the healthcare system or are they just a stopgap that does not replace a profound reform of working conditions and long-term planning?
