A TEAM of Spanish doctors are hoping to swap Barcelona for Birstall and Madrid for Marsh in a scheme to meet a shortfall of GPs around Kirklees.
Seven Spanish doctors aiming to work in West Yorkshire are being given a whistle-stop tour of the county this weekend.
They have applied to work for the North Kirklees Primary Care Trust, which has 15 GP vacancies, as well as in Bradford and Wakefield.
Bradford is short of 20 doctors.
National figures last year showed there were more than 2,615 empty GP posts around the UK.
The seven arrived yesterday for intensive two-day interviews.
All have already been assessed in Madrid as part of the Government-led scheme.
If successful they will return to the UK in September when they will begin a four-month induction programme before starting work.
Mr Barry Seal, chairman of North Kirklees Primary Care Trust, said everyone was very excited about the visit.
A spokeswoman for North Kirklees PCT commented: "There are too many doctors in Spain. Therefore they don't have stable work lives.
"They can't get long-term contracts."
She said the whole of West Yorkshire was facing a GP shortage.
Today the doctors were taking part in language assessment at Bradford College before visiting surgeries in Kirklees.
They were also being given a guided tour of North Kirklees Primary Care Trust offices in Cleckheaton.
Tomorrow a bank of tests will look at their clinical skills.
