Balearic family doctors highest paid

BALEARIC family doctors are among the highest paid doctors in Spain, according to a study published by the Confederation of Doctors Unions (CESM).
The report says that, together with doctors in Primary Health Care in Ceuta, Melilla and La Rioja, and specialists in Ceuta and Melilla, family doctors in the Balearics are the highest paid in the country. The assessment was made by cross referencing the amount doctors in a region are paid with the cost of living in that region.
The study reveals that the gross annual salary of a specialist can vary between the 53'600 euros paid in the Balearics (43'600 if you take off the allowance for being on an island) and the 28'700 euros paid in Catalonia. The lowest salaries, in comparison with the cost of living in the area, are to be found in the Basque region, Madrid, Navarra, and Catalonia.
According to the author of the report “this doesn't necessarily mean that doctors are well or badly paid in absolute terms”.
Salaries for Spanish doctors in the public health field can vary by 45 percent depending on which region they work in.
In addition to this, the allowances for being on call are up to 50 percent less in regions where salaries are low, and the hours worked annually can vary by up to three weeks (21 days). There are also notable differences, according to the regions, in the amount of hours worked. While in Catalonia it is 1'728 hours annually, in Murcia and the Canary Islands it is 1'645, and in Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura it falls to 1'519 hours. With regard to on call allowances, the region which pays most is Catalonia (23 euros), in comparison with the 12.80 euros paid in Cantabria, Castilla and Leon, and Extremadura. The difference is more marked in Primary Health Care, where the on call allowance is also 23 euros in Catalonia but drops to 11 euros in Cantabria and Castilla and Leon.