Illegal immigrants in Spain will once again be able to get free primary healthcare at doctors' surgeries, the government said on Tuesday, doing a U-turn on an unpopular policy in a busy election year. The government withdrew the right to general healthcare for tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants in 2012 as part of a programme of spending cuts.
But the policy was highly criticised by doctors, refugee activists and opposition parties, and, since the ban excluded emergency treatment, has led to pressure on emergency wards.
"It seems more sensible and more reasonable for (primary healthcare) to be carried out in health centres so that among other things emergency centres are not overwhelmed," Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told a news conference when asked about the policy change.
Rajoy's People's Party is keen to show voters it is serious about reversing austerity policies passed at the peak of the euro zone debt crisis and is at pains to adopt more socially aware measures before elections over the next few months.
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