Abstract Background and Aims Infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis patients. Tunneled catheters (TC) have been associated with increased risk of infection and death, but mortality rates are not widely reported. Our study aimed to analyse catheter infection-free survival and mortality of patients with this vascular access. Method This is a retrospective study of all TC inserted during the period of 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2019. The TC were inserted by nephrologists, following a preimplantation protocol agreed with the Infectious Diseases Service. Patients were followed up from the tunneled catheter insertion until the study end date (December 31, 2020), TC related bacteremia or died. Results In the 14-year period under study, 406 TC were implanted in 325 patients. A total of 85 tunneled catheter related bacteremia were diagnosed, resulting in an incidence of 0.40 per 1000 catheter days (81.1% after 6 months of implantation). The predominant microorganisms isolated were Gram-positive organisms: Staphylococcus epidermidis (48.4%); Staphylococcus aureus (28.0%). During the study, a total of 145 patients had the TC removed or exchanged due different causes. The main reasons for catheter removal were the adequate development and use of the arteriovenous fistula (48, 33.1%) and discharge from hemodialysis due to recovery of renal function, transfer to peritoneal dialysis or renal transplantation (47, 32.4%). Only in 26 (17.9%) patients, the TC was removed due to bacteremia at a median of 4.8 (1.0-8.0) days from the bacteremia. The median time to catheter removal for non-infection-related reasons was 448 (185-910) days, without significant differences with the TC related bacteremia group [430 (116-695)] (p=0.83). The 30-day mortality rate from the first TC related bacteremia was 8.7%. During the study period, a total of 168 (51.7%) patients died for different causes. Conclusion The incidence of bacteremia in our study was low and did not seem to have a relevant impact on catheter survival. The global mortality rate was similar to that reported in European registries for patients on renal replacement therapy. An implantation and management protocol, strict in prophylactic measures, could reduce the incidence of bacteremia and reduce its morbidity and mortality.