Nearly half of Spaniards don’t use protection during sex

46.3% of Spaniards do not use any protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs). These are the findings reported by the Spanish Association for Self-Care in Healthcare (ANEFP) in its report.

The situation among young people is particularly worrying: one in three respondents aged 18 to 25 also said they do not use any preventive methods. Only 26.2% of those surveyed said they use male contraception (including condoms), while 13.2% use female сontraception. Just 12% get tested regularly for STIs, although that figure has risen compared with the previous study (8.8%).

Paradoxically, 77.6% of Spaniards say looking after their health is “very important”, and 74.8% rate their own health as good or very good.

Experts stress the need to normalise preventive check-ups. According to psychiatrist Rosa Molina, who presented the report, the rise in the number of people getting tested is a “positive sign”, but the key task is to make health care part of everyday routine rather than a reaction to worrying symptoms.

The research also looked at other aspects of health. Some 34.8% of respondents described their sleep as “irregular” or “poor”. The main factors affecting sleep were personal problems (31.9%), work-related stress (22.8%) and using electronic devices before bed (18.6%).

Among the more positive trends is a rise in the number of people doing sport every day (20.5%), up 3.3% on 2024. In addition, 40% of Spaniards have annual check-ups even when they have no symptoms, while three in ten do so only when they notice a health problem.