text: I was a patient in a Spanish hospital about 5 years ago.  I had cut my foot badly while running and needed sutures. This was in Seville.  Compared to a U.S. hospital, I felt like I was about 50 years back in time.  The wheelchairs were wooden, the doctor sewing me did not have an assistant, they used silk suture which is not modern, and the anesthetic injections were quite painful. \nBut, the people were friendly, they did give me a tetanus shot, my foot healed eventually, and it was all free.