If you are in Barcelona and need routine boosters or travel vaccinations, the route depends on the jab. Routine vaccines usually go through your CAP, while travel-specific ones, especially yellow fever, go through Sanitat Internacional or an authorised private centre.
Plan early if you can. Some vaccines need to be given weeks before departure, and yellow fever centres can book up in summer. If anything is urgent or unclear, call 061 or 112, or speak to your GP. Vaccination timing should always be confirmed by a clinician for your own itinerary.
For routine jabs, CatSalut-registered patients can usually get boosters through their CAP nurse. That includes tetanus boosters, hepatitis A and B for adults at risk, MMR catch-up doses, HPV catch-up under certain ages, and the seasonal flu jab in autumn. Most are free at the point of use under the public schedule. The full Catalan calendar is published by Canal Salut.
Children’s routine vaccinations, including BCG, hexavalent, MMR and meningococcal vaccines, are also delivered through the CAP paediatric team at no charge. If you are not yet CatSalut-registered, private clinics such as Centro Médico Teknon and most Sanitas Multi centres can provide routine jabs for a fee, plus the cost of the vaccine.
For travel vaccinations, Catalonia uses designated Centres de Vacunació Internacional under Sanitat Internacional. The main Barcelona-area centre is in Sant Just Desvern, about 15 minutes by Rodalies from Plaça Catalunya. Booking is done through vacunesfora.gencat.cat, where you enter your itinerary, see the recommended jabs, and book a pre-travel consultation.
Bring your TSI or CIP, passport, itinerary, vaccination record, and any prescriptions you take. Charges depend on the trip. Some vaccines are charged when the travel is not medically essential. The consultation itself usually costs less than €30, while vaccines vary widely, with yellow fever usually in the €40 to €60 range and rabies courses in the low hundreds.
Yellow fever vaccination must be done at an authorised centre that can issue the international yellow card recognised at borders. In Catalonia, that means Sanitat Internacional and a small number of accredited private centres. Your CAP cannot provide the certificate. A single dose now gives lifelong protection for most people, and for travel to most yellow-fever-endemic countries the certificate becomes valid 10 days after vaccination.
The standard travel jab list depends on where you are going and what you will be doing, but it often includes hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, typhoid, yellow fever, rabies pre-exposure, Japanese encephalitis, cholera and meningitis ACWY. The consultation should be tailored to your age, medical history and itinerary, so do not rely on a generic checklist.
Rabies after an animal bite is a medical emergency. Wash the wound under running water with soap for at least 15 minutes, then go straight to a public hospital emergency department, such as Hospital del Mar, Hospital Clínic, Hospital Sant Pau or Vall d'Hebron. Do not wait for a CAP appointment. If you are already abroad, your travel insurance helpline should direct you to a recognised rabies clinic, and you can continue the course on return through Sanitat Internacional or your CAP.
