We performed a cohort study in seven hospitals in Spain to determine the clinical characteristics of incident patients with bladder cancer, the diagnostic process, and the conditions that might affect health care interval times. 314 patients with bladder cancer were included, 70.3 (Standard Deviation [SD] 11.2) years old and 85.0% male. Clinical stage was T1 in 45.9% of patients. The median interval time between first consultation and diagnosis was of 104.0 days (Inter quartile range [IQR]:112.0; range from 0 to 986), being shorter for those patients who attended a hospital for their first consultation. The median interval time between diagnosis and first treatment was of 0.0 days (IQR: 0.0; range from 0 to 366), being longer when the patient had a pathologic tumor stage ≥ T2a. The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-017-3024-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.