Health and social inequities in Spain

This article examines the relationship between health and social differences in Spain. The dominant explanatory models (medical, health system oriented and economical) have focused on health care as the main source of health. They have disregarded the role of socioeconomic variables in the genesis, development and cure of illness. In relation to the distribution of health, the variables analysed here are those of poverty, social class, sex, age, living conditions, lifestyles and some existential indicators using both official aggregated data and survey data. We conclude that Spain is a country with major economic, social and regional differences and manifests important variations in the health of its population. The evidence taken from the data presented here seems to indicate that poverty, living conditions and income play a relevant explanatory role.