The flu jab in Spain: where to get it on the Costa Blanca and what you need

The flu jab in Spain is not something you buy. It is something the system calls you in for, and that system turns on one card: the SIP card. The phone number you need to book an appointment is printed on the back of it, under the heading Cita.

The 2026-2027 campaign in the Comunitat Valenciana started on 28 September and runs in three phases. That is why your neighbour was done last week while you cannot get an appointment anywhere. Below: who is up when, what to bring, and what to do if you have no SIP card.

Who gets the flu jab in Spain for free

In the Comunitat Valenciana the vaccination is recommended and offered to these groups, among others:

• everyone aged 60 and over
• children from 6 to 71 months
• pregnant women
• people with certain risk conditions

If you fall into one of those groups and you are registered with the Valencian health service, you pay nothing. From November the campaign widens to the general population.

What we could not establish, and therefore do not claim: whether unregistered visitors can use the public system, and what a jab at a private clinic costs. Ask on the spot.

The three phases of the 2026-2027 campaign

The Conselleria de Sanitat has split the campaign up. It covers flu, COVID-19 and RSV at the same time.

• From 28 September. Care homes, centres for people with disabilities and schools. The RSV immunisation of infants starts here too.
• From 5 October. The rest of the recommended groups, with priority for those at greatest risk of complications.
• During November. The general population.

In schools it is a nasal vaccine. Taking part is voluntary and needs parental consent.

How long the campaign runs has not been published consistently. One source gives 15 December 2026 and the same source elsewhere gives 31 March 2027. Last season it ran from 1 October to 31 March. Assume you have until well into the winter, but do not leave it.

What you need: the SIP card

The SIP card (Sistema de Información Poblacional) is your entry ticket to Valencian healthcare. Without it, nobody gives you a jab.

Bring your SIP card and photo ID. And turn the SIP card over. On the back, under the heading Cita, is the phone number for your health area. That is the number you ring, not some national line.

No SIP yet? It starts with registering at your town hall. How that works is in our guide to the empadronamiento. You will usually need a NIE number for that too.

Booking an appointment: four ways

There are four ways in, and they do not all work at the same speed.

1. Your own centro de salud. Walk in, or ring the number on the back of your SIP card.
2. The GVA+Salut app. The official app of the Valencian health service.
3. Online. Through the Generalitat appointment page. You need only your SIP number and your date of birth. A digital certificate is NOT required, which many people do not realise.
4. 012. The Generalitat information line, for questions about the process.

If you are in a priority group you will usually get a text message. Do not wait passively for it if you have heard nothing by late November.

In the last two seasons you could also walk in without an appointment during the final phase. Whether that returns this year has not been announced. Ring first.

Where you get it: the health centre, not the hospital

This is the commonest mistake. The jab is given at your centro de salud, or at the smaller consultorio auxiliar in your village, not at the hospital. The hospital is for referrals and emergencies.

You recognise a health centre by the Agència Valenciana de Salut sign, with the Generalitat Valenciana and Conselleria de Sanitat logos beneath it. Every town along the coast has one, though it is sometimes a small building with limited hours.

Which centre is yours depends on your registered address. You cannot simply go to one in a neighbouring town.

No SIP card?

Then sort that first. The route is almost always the same:

1. Register at the town hall, the empadronamiento.
2. Take that proof to your health centre and sign up with the health service.
3. The SIP card follows.

You can also register online if you hold a digital certificate or Cl@ve. If you do not, go in person to the health centre nearest your home.

If you are here only part of the year and registered nowhere, you fall outside this system. Then the private clinic is what is left.

The pharmacy: do not count on it

In Britain and Ireland the pharmacy is an obvious place for a flu jab. In Spain it is not.

We found no official source saying that pharmacies in the Comunitat Valenciana may give the flu jab. We are not claiming it is forbidden, only that you should not assume it. The campaign runs through the health centres and through authorised vaccination centres.

Ask your own pharmacy by all means, but book at your health centre in the meantime.

The private route

If you fall outside the public system or do not want to wait, a private provider is an option. The HLA San Carlos in Dénia calls itself a Centro Oficial de Vacunación and started its flu campaign this autumn.

You book there by WhatsApp on 679 14 40 05, by phone on 965 78 15 50 or through their app. Note that they also ask for your DNI and your SIP card. The price is not published; ask when you book.

Other private clinics along the coast offer it too. Compare on waiting time above all, because medically you get the same vaccine.

From the Marina Alta to the Vega Baja: your health department

The coast is divided into health departments, each with its own reference hospital. From north to south you run into:

• Marina Alta, with the hospital in Dénia. It covers Jávea, Calp, Teulada and Ondara, among others.
• Marina Baixa, with the hospital in Villajoyosa. Benidorm sits under this one.
• Vega Baja, with the hospital in Orihuela, and the Torrevieja department alongside it.

For the jab itself the hospital is irrelevant. It only determines which phone number is on the back of your SIP card and which health centre you belong to.

Flu, COVID and RSV in one campaign

This year the Valencian campaign is not only a flu campaign. It covers three respiratory illnesses at once: flu, COVID-19 and RSV.

For adults in the target groups that means flu and COVID can be dealt with in the same appointment. Whether that happens in your case is decided by the nurse, on your records and the national guidance. Ask if you want to know.

For infants it is RSV immunisation, which runs in the first phase of the campaign.

For scale: last season the Comunitat Valenciana gave roughly 1.2 million flu doses between 1 October and 31 March, more than 10 per cent up on the season before.

Frequently asked questions

Does the flu jab cost anything? Not if you are in a target group and registered with the Valencian health service.

Can I just walk in? In the last two seasons you could, in the final phase. It has not been announced for this year. Ring first.

What do I bring? SIP card and photo ID.

Which number do I ring? The one on the back of your SIP card, under Cita. For general questions, 012.

Will I be called in automatically? Priority groups usually get a text. Do not wait indefinitely.

Can I have the COVID jab at the same time? Possibly, depending on your records. Ask when you book.

Where is the official information? At vacunaciones.san.gva.es, the vaccination site of the Conselleria de Sanitat.

About the authorLeonie

Leonie lives on the Costa Blanca. She writes about daily life on the coast: the markets, the walks and everything you only discover once you actually live here.