Residence, Not Nationality - and the Undocumented Are Named In, Not Out
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Suriname on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
91 exceptions recorded across 34 countries · none match Suriname to Spain · Access to healthcare
The right to health protection and health care in Spain belongs to Spanish nationals and to foreigners who have established their residence in Spanish territory. Being paid for out of public funds is a separate question with its own list, and for a foreigner it turns on legal and habitual residence plus not being obliged to prove cover by another route. What makes the Spanish rule unusual is article 3 ter: a foreigner who is neither registered nor authorised as a resident has the right to health protection on the same terms as a Spanish national, and it is paid from public funds provided no other system and no third party is liable. Anyone outside both routes may buy in through a convenio especial.
At a glance
- What the right turns on
- Residence, not nationality
- Publicly funded, as a foreigner
- Legal and habitual residence, with no other cover you must prove
- Without a residence authorisation
- The same terms as a Spanish national
Article 3 ter(1), subject to the three conditions in the paragraph that follows it.
- If neither route reaches you
- A convenio especial, bought by paying the corresponding premium
- What it does not cover
- Care outside Spanish territory, paid from Spanish public funds
Requirements
- Established residence in Spanish territory, for the right itself
- Legal and habitual residence and no obligation to prove cover by another route, for it to be publicly funded
- For a person without residence authorisation: no exportable cover from the country of origin, no obligation to prove cover under Union law or a bilateral convention, and no third party liable
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Suriname
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«Son titulares del derecho a la protección de la salud y a la atención sanitaria todas las personas con nacionalidad española y las personas extranjeras que tengan establecida su residencia en el territorio español.»The holders of the right. Nationality appears once, beside residence, and does not limit the second limb.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Spain's official state gazette, which also publishes consolidated texts carrying their own amendment history.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A deadline set by Council of Ministers decision rather than written into a statute will not appear in the consolidated text at all, which is exactly the case with the Democratic Memory Law's option period. The statute gives the mechanism; the date that mattered to applicants lives in a separate decision we have not read.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«Para hacer efectivo el derecho al que se refiere el apartado 1 con cargo a los fondos públicos de las administraciones competentes, las personas titulares de los citados derechos deberán encontrarse en alguno de los siguientes supuestos: a) Tener nacionalidad española y residencia habitual en el territorio español. b) Tener reconocido su derecho a la asistencia sanitaria en España por cualquier otro título jurídico, aun no teniendo su residencia habitual en territorio español, siempre que no exista un tercero obligado al pago de dicha asistencia. c) Ser persona extranjera y con residencia legal y habitual en el territorio español y no tener la obligación de acreditar la cobertura obligatoria de la prestación sanitaria por otra vía. 3. Aquellas personas que de acuerdo con el apartado 2 no tengan derecho a la asistencia sanitaria con cargo a fondos públicos, podrán obtener dicha prestación mediante el pago de la correspondiente contraprestación o cuota derivada de la suscripción de un convenio especial.»Who it is paid for and what is left for everyone else. The convenio especial is the paid route.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Spain's official state gazette, which also publishes consolidated texts carrying their own amendment history.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A deadline set by Council of Ministers decision rather than written into a statute will not appear in the consolidated text at all, which is exactly the case with the Democratic Memory Law's option period. The statute gives the mechanism; the date that mattered to applicants lives in a separate decision we have not read.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«Las personas extranjeras no registradas ni autorizadas como residentes en España tienen derecho a la protección de la salud y a la atención sanitaria en las mismas condiciones que las personas con nacionalidad española, tal y como se establece en el artículo 3.1. 2. La citada asistencia será con cargo a los fondos públicos de las administraciones competentes siempre que dichas personas cumplan todos los siguientes requisitos: a) No tener la obligación de acreditar la cobertura obligatoria de la prestación sanitaria por otra vía, en virtud de lo dispuesto en el derecho de la Unión Europea, los convenios bilaterales y demás normativa aplicable. b) No poder exportar el derecho de cobertura sanitaria desde su país de origen o procedencia. c) No existir un tercero obligado al pago.»The article that distinguishes Spain. Note the numbering: the article prints two paragraphs numbered 2, and the three conditions quoted here belong to the first of them.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Spain's official state gazette, which also publishes consolidated texts carrying their own amendment history.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A deadline set by Council of Ministers decision rather than written into a statute will not appear in the consolidated text at all, which is exactly the case with the Democratic Memory Law's option period. The statute gives the mechanism; the date that mattered to applicants lives in a separate decision we have not read.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The health service is run by the autonomous communities and what a card is issued on, and how fast, is theirs. This record is the state law that says who the right belongs to.
Article 3 ter was restored by Real Decreto-ley 7/2018 after a period when the law excluded undocumented foreigners. The consolidated text we read does not show that history on the article itself.
- issuesLey 16/2003, artículo 3
Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado
About this source
Spain's official state gazette, which also publishes consolidated texts carrying their own amendment history.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: A deadline set by Council of Ministers decision rather than written into a statute will not appear in the consolidated text at all, which is exactly the case with the Democratic Memory Law's option period. The statute gives the mechanism; the date that mattered to applicants lives in a separate decision we have not read.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source