Financial protection for holidaymakers
Under the auspices of the Civil Aviation Authority, ATOL is the largest holiday protection scheme in Britain. It provides financial protection for holidaymakers and covers almost every flight and holiday sold by travel firms in the UK. If the company that sells you a holiday or flight goes out of business, the ATOL scheme will refund you in full.
Air Travel Organisers Licensing >

Spanish Tourist Office
A mine of useful information for travellers to Spain.
Spanish Tourist Office >

Healthcare in Europe
If you are normally resident in the UK, you are entitled to an EHIC, or European Health Insurance Card. This entitles you to healthcare that becomes necessary because of illness or accident during a visit to another EU country along with some non-EU countries – see the list below. The treatment might be free, or reduced-cost, but is the normal level of state-provided treatment in that country. This might not be the same as you receive in the UK under the NHS and so you might find you are required to contribute to the cost of your care.

Austria
Belgium
Cyprus (but not Northern Cyprus)
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland

If you have a chronic illness, medical condition or are pregnant, your EHIC will cover the routine care you need for this – but you might need to make arrangements in advance e.g. for kidney dialysis. You won’t be covered, though, if medical treatment is the main reason for your travel abroad. It is in any case highly advisable to take out comprehensive private medical insurance before you travel abroad in addition to taking your EHIC.

Latest Product News
Do you have news about products or services that might
interest ourreaders? We'd love to hear about it ... more