SHA Spain: Medical Longevity & Wellness Retreat on the Mediterranean

SHA Spain is SHA Wellness Clinic's European property, set on a private enclave on the Costa Blanca near Alicante. It runs on an integrated medicine model: you start with advanced diagnostics (blood work, body composition, sometimes genetic or hormone panels depending on programme), and everything that follows — the food, the training, the therapies — is adjusted to what those results show. The programmes are structured and named. Detox & Optimal Weight is a gut-and-metabolism reset built around an anti-inflammatory diet. Advanced Longevity focuses on biomarkers and cellular regeneration. Leaders Health & Performance is aimed at people in high-demand jobs who need to hold up under sustained load. Rebalance & Energize is the stress and sleep one. There's also a fully Tailor-Made option if you'd rather build your own week from the available treatments.

The medical team is the part that separates this from a spa. Dr. Vicente Mera is the internal medicine and longevity specialist; Dr. Rafael Navas handles hormonal work; Marina Domene runs the nutrition unit; José Luis Tabueña heads physiotherapy; and there are specialists in sleep, functional medicine, dermoaesthetics, neurophysiology and oral rehabilitation. You'll typically see two or three of them during a week depending on your programme, and you leave with a written plan rather than a vague suggestion to 'reduce stress'.

The spa and hydrotherapy circuit was redesigned as a continuous, sequenced experience — contrast therapy in a set order, hot to cold, designed to support circulation and recovery rather than just be a nice soak. There's also a full fitness offering: personal training, group classes, hiking routes along the coast, and a pool. Treatments include massage, physiotherapy, aesthetic and regenerative therapies, and the programme schedules these in rather than leaving you to book them.

Food is a big part of the week and it's not a starvation situation — SHA's kitchen is known for making restricted diets actually taste good. Menus are mostly plant-forward Mediterranean with fish, adapted per programme, and the nutrition team adjusts things like calorie load and macronutrient split based on your plan and your diagnostics.

What makes SHA different from a similar-priced European wellness clinic is the length of the stays and the follow-through. Most people book 7 nights minimum for a programme. You get before-and-after testing, a discharge consultation, and a plan to take home. It's also genuinely comfortable — the suites and residences are hotel-grade, not clinical, and the setting above the Mediterranean does a lot of the work.

What's included

- Accommodation in your chosen suite or residence - Full health programme with initial diagnostics and medical consultations - Daily meals from the programme menu (breakfast, lunch, dinner) - Scheduled fitness sessions and guided walks - Hydrotherapy circuit access - Spa and physiotherapy treatments as per your programme - Discharge consultation with a take-home health plan - Complimentary night(s) if booked under the summer offer (accommodation only)

What's not included

- International flights - Airport transfers (can be arranged separately) - Travel insurance - Additional treatments or services not in your programme - Alcohol and off-menu items - Personal expenses - Health programmes and additional services under the summer complimentary-night offer