Autonomous communities are setting schedules for Spain’s 2026-2027 flu and COVID-19 vaccination campaign, with the earliest listed starts on 18 September. During 7-13 September 2026, primary care flu positivity reached 8.2%, about twice the rate recorded in the same week a year earlier. The epidemic threshold had not yet been crossed.
The Ministry of Health recommends starting immunisation in the final week of September and continuing through October. Each autonomous community sets its own timetable, based on vaccine supplies, local health data and the organisation of regional services.
There is no single national start date.
The first appointments are reserved for people most at risk of serious complications. The basic flu target group includes people aged 60 and over, children from six months to five years, pregnant women and patients with diabetes, morbid obesity, chronic cardiovascular disease, neurological disease, respiratory disease or kidney disease. The list also includes people with cancer or immunosuppression.
Residents of care homes and disability centres are also included, as are people with Down syndrome or other cognitive dysfunction, coeliac disease and other listed risk conditions. Children aged between five and 18 who receive prolonged treatment with acetylsalicylic acid are covered too. In these cases, flu can precede Reye’s syndrome.
Health workers and emergency workers are also prioritised, along with members of the State security forces, firefighters and Civil Protection staff. Carers and household members of vulnerable people can also receive the vaccine.
Nursery and early-years education staff are included, as are workers who have direct contact with animals or their secretions on farms and livestock holdings.
Most communities are organising COVID-19 vaccination alongside flu immunisation. The recommended groups are broadly similar: people over 60, children with risk conditions, residents of institutions, pregnant women, healthcare staff and people who live with or care for vulnerable individuals.
The World Health Organization reported global flu positivity of 10% in week 37, while SARS-CoV-2 activity remained stable and low.
Eligible people can receive both vaccines at the same appointment if supplies are available. The Ministry of Health says current evidence shows no difference in immune response or adverse reactions when the vaccines are given together rather than separately.
Other vaccines can also be given at the same appointment. No waiting period is needed if injections take place on different days.
Several regions have already published detailed calendars. Galicia starts on 28 September in care homes and disability centres. Child immunisation begins there on 13 October.
Aragón also starts on 28 September. Its first groups are residents and workers in residential centres, pregnant women and healthcare staff. Children follow from 5 to 19 October. People over 80 and high-risk groups begin on 19 October, with the remaining target groups starting on 3 November. Aragón is extending its regional flu campaign to children up to 11 years old.
Andalusia begins on 1 October in residential and disability centres. Children from six months to almost five years are included from the same date. Dependent people and those over 80 follow on 7 October. People over 70 and adults with illnesses begin on 14 October. People over 60 and security forces follow on 21 October.
Asturias also starts on 1 October, with residents and children from six months to 13 years among the first groups. People over 80 begin on 13 October, followed by other priority groups on 26 October.
Several other communities start on 28 September. Cantabria begins in care homes. The Basque Country starts in residential centres and for children aged six to 59 months. The Valencian Community begins in residential centres, disability centres and schools.
Castilla y León starts on 1 October for children and institutionalised people. Madrid opens on 5 October for people over 60 and children from six months to seven years. Other target groups follow on 19 October.
Castilla y León has reported 806,650 flu vaccine doses for the 2026-2027 campaign, with total expenditure of €9.55 million. The order includes an intranasal vaccine for children aged 24 months to 11 years.
Catalonia starts risk-group vaccination on 5 October and opens vaccination to the rest of the over-60 population on 26 October. From 16 November, people can receive the vaccine without an appointment.
La Rioja begins its flu and COVID-19 programme in residential centres on 21 September. Murcia starts in care homes on 18 September and expands the programme to people over 60, pregnant women and risk groups on 21 September.
The regional timetable also includes separate respiratory syncytial virus measures in La Rioja, Murcia and the Canary Islands.
Castilla-La Mancha, Navarra, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla have not announced a start date for the general campaign. Extremadura has scheduled school vaccination with an intranasal vaccine from 1 to 15 October. The Canary Islands have published respiratory syncytial virus dates, but not dates for flu and COVID-19.
The campaign continues until the end of the season, which in most communities means December or January. Catalonia will keep vaccination available until March. The Ministry of Health says doses will remain accessible throughout the flu season.
Appointments can be requested through each community’s digital platform, by telephone or directly at a health centre. Residents should check their regional health service for local dates. The staggered system gives vulnerable people and frontline staff earlier access, with general availability following later.
Flu activity is rising early, and COVID-19 is still circulating. Regional dates determine when people can receive protection. The need for clear regional coordination has also surfaced in another regional dispute.
