The Spanish Island of Gran Canaria, just off the coast of Morocco, is fast establishing itself as a wellness and health tourism destination, offering facilities and technology at an affordable cost. The doctors and nurses in all hospitals and clinics are well qualified as well as speaking fluent English. The cost of treatment is up to 40% less than other UK and European medical tourism destinations even with the current exchange rate.

Famed for its healthy microclimate averaging 24 degrees all year round and its purifying natural mineral waters and Aloe Vera, Gran Canaria offers perfect conditions in which to recuperate and rejuvenate. It has long attracted holidaymakers in search of blue skies and beaches. Being just a short flight from many EU countries and with some of Europe’s best spa and thalassotherpy facilities makes it an ideal destination to combine surgery, post operative recuperation and holiday relaxation.

Gran Canaria boasts some of the best-rated spa and thalasso facilities in Europe including the Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort Spa & Casino which has a spa set in an area reminiscent of a volcanic cave, The Lopesan Villa del Conde Resort & Corallium Thalasso with private seawater pools, jacuzzis, sun terraces and treatment rooms, and The Gloria Palace San Agustín Thalasso and Hotel with its four high tech sea water pools.

The Gran Canaria Spa, Wellness & Health Association (GCSW&H Association) has persuaded several of the top spas, medical and recuperation facilities on the island to offer bespoke wellness and medical holiday packages to suit individual needs of medical tourists, particularly from France, Germany, Spain and the UK.It has also persuaded fourteen of the top spa hotels to offer packages. These all provide guests with a choice of three to five star accommodation offering outstanding spa facilities and comfort, and close to: Hospital San Roque Maspalomas, Clinica San Roque Las Palmas, Eurocanarias Oftalmologica Eye Clinic and Branemark Center.Clinica San Roque Las Palmas specialises in cosmetic surgery. Eurocanarias Oftalmológica is a top specialist eye clinic. Hospital San Roque Maspalomas is a cosmetic surgery specialist. Branemark Center is a specialist dental clinic.

What is particularly interesting about what the association is doing is that they are not wasting time with politics or lobbying, but devoting limited resources to persuading all in the related medical, health, wellness and accommodation sectors, not only to work together, but to provide packages for targeted markets. José Maria Manaricua, the association president comments, “Over the years, Gran Canaria has promoted tourism devoted to relaxation and personal care through constant improvement and the gradual development of the necessary tourist services and infrastructure to turn the island into a European exponent of health and wellness services.”

The Gran Canaria Tourist Board, Federación de Empresarios de Hostelería y Turismo de Las Palmas, and entrepreneurs from the medical and tourist sectors formed the association in 2004. The public and private sectors work together to market and promote Gran Canaria as a health and wellness destination through a single organization that represents each and every associated centre.