How does a clinic get its health authorisation in Cataluña?
In Cataluña a health centre or service applies online to the Departament de Salut before it starts, with a plan funcional, an organigram naming the responsable assistencial and the patient safety referent, and a staff list. The Departament decides within three months, silence is a refusal, and a draft decree under review in 2026 would add a 10 year renewal.
When the Departament de Salut must authorise
Every health centre and service in Cataluña needs an official permit from the Departament de Salut to operate, whatever its size and whether it is public or private, and it applies again to move, to carry out works, to change owner or medical services, and to close.1 The authorisation protects the safety of the premises and equipment, the quality of care and the patient's rights and privacy.1 The application to start is filed online before activity begins, signed with a digital certificate or idCAT mòbil.2
The file, the fee and the decision
| Item | What the tràmit asks |
|---|---|
| Premises | Final works certificate, or a basic technical project with plans and a technical report |
| Right of use | A lease or an agreement assigning the space |
| Organigram | The responsable assistencial, the responsable de vigilància de productes sanitaris and the referent de seguretat del pacient, each accepting the role |
| Staff | A current list of all health staff with degree and colegiación number, and the contracts behind it |
| Equipment | The equipment list, with extra documents for radiology, nuclear medicine and MRI |
| Plan funcional | The services, techniques and procedures offered |
The fee is variable, with a base of 184.70 euros for a centre without inpatient beds and 431.10 euros with them, plus 28.70 euros for each service authorised.2 The Departament has three months from filing to decide and notify, the decision arrives through e-NOTUM, and an application left unanswered is refused by silence.2 A consulta mèdica, one specialty in up to 100 square metres, uses its own procedure at a fixed fee of 213.35 euros, also decided within three months.3
- Choose the procedure. The centre or service procedure, or the consultes mèdiques route for a single specialty in up to 100 square metres.
- Appoint the three roles. Responsable assistencial, responsable de vigilància de productes sanitaris and referent de seguretat del pacient, each accepting in writing.
- Write the plan funcional. Every service, technique and procedure the centre will offer.
- List every professional. Name, DNI or NIE, degree and colegiación number, with the contract that links each to the centre.
- File and pay online. Through Tràmits Gencat, keeping the registration receipt and its code.
- Wait for the decision. Up to three months, and silence is a refusal, so do not open on an unanswered file.
- Procedure ______ Registration code ______
- Responsable assistencial ______ Accepted on ______
- Referent de seguretat del pacient ______
- Responsable de vigilància de productes sanitaris ______
- Staff list current on ______
- Plan funcional approved by ______
- Filed on ______ Decision due by ______
What the draft decree would change
Proposed, not in force. The Departament de Salut has drafted a decree on the common requirements for health centres and services, which the Consell de Treball, Econòmic i Social de Catalunya reviewed on 1 June 2026.4 As drafted it would repeal Decret 151/2017, renew the operating authorisation every 10 years from the date of authorisation or relocation, move most closures to a declaració responsable, and give authorised centres six months to adapt to its new documentary and organisational duties, which the CTESC recommends extending to 12.4
The record rules sit beside the authorisation. Catalan law requires one historia clínica per patient, with every change recorded and its author identified, and keeps consent forms, discharge reports and surgical records at least 15 years from discharge.5 Anyone can check which centres are authorised in the Departament's public search tool.6
Questions
Is the 10 year renewal in force?
No, it is in a draft decree reviewed by the CTESC in June 2026, and it applies only if the Government adopts it.
Can an aesthetic clinic use the consultes mèdiques route?
No, the consultes mèdiques procedure excludes aesthetic medicine, dentistry, telemedicine and centres with inpatient beds.
How do we appeal a refusal?
With a recurs d'alçada to the Departament de Salut's Secretary General within one month of the notification.
Sources
- 1Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Salut, 2026Autorització de centres i serveis de salutRead source
- 2Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Salut, 2026Autorització de centres o serveis sanitaris, iniciar l'activitatRead source
- 3Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Salut, 2026Autorització de consultes mèdiques, inici de funcionamentRead source
- 4Consell de Treball, Econòmic i Social de Catalunya, 2026Dictamen 10/2026 sobre el projecte de decret pel qual s'estableixen els requisits comuns dels centres i serveis sanitarisRead source
- 5Boletín Oficial del Estado, 2025Ley 21/2000, de 29 de diciembre, sobre los derechos de información concernientes a la salud y la autonomía del paciente, y la documentación clínica (Cataluña), texto consolidadoRead source
- 6Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Salut, 2026Centres, serveis i establiments sanitaris autoritzatsRead source
Written by the wai team from Health authorities of the Comunidad de Madrid and Cataluña guidance, checked on 16 October 2026. This is guidance, not legal advice. Neither the Comunidad de Madrid's Consejería de Sanidad nor the Generalitat's Departament de Salut endorses wai or any software.