Foundations · Spain

Parapharmacy in Spain

The Spanish parafarmacia is a retail outlet that sells cosmetics, food supplements and medical devices outside the pharmacy network. Unlike Italy or Portugal, Spain reserves all medicinal products, including over-the-counter ones, to licensed pharmacies (oficinas de farmacia).

Looking for a specific product? The product-by-product guide covers antifungal creams, paracetamol, chlorhexidine mouthwash, infant formula, pregnancy tests and more.

Legal definition

Spanish law does not designate "parafarmacia" as a separate licensed health establishment in the way that pharmacy law designates the oficina de farmacia. A parafarmacia is, in practice, an ordinary commercial establishment whose business is the retail sale of cosmetic, hygiene, dietetic and orthopaedic products, food supplements and certain medical devices. Its operation is governed by general commercial law and by the sector-specific rules applicable to each of the product categories it sells, not by pharmacy law.

The category is defined negatively: by what a parafarmacia cannot do. It cannot dispense medicinal products as defined in Article 2 of the Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2015, of 24 July, which approves the consolidated text of the law on guarantees and rational use of medicinal products and medical devices (the Ley de garantías). That text reserves the dispensation of human-use medicinal products to legally authorised pharmacies.

The Spanish pharmacy monopoly

Article 3(6) of Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2015 reserves the custody, conservation and dispensation of human-use medicinal products to legally authorised pharmacies open to the public, with a role for hospital pharmacy services within the National Health System. Under Article 86(6), the oficina de farmacia is a private health establishment of public interest. Only pharmacists may own one (Article 103(4) of Ley 14/1986, General de Sanidad, with Articles 1 and 4 of Ley 16/1997).

The Spanish category of especialidades farmacéuticas publicitarias (EFP, a term from earlier legislation still in common use) — non-prescription medicines that may be advertised to the public — remains within the pharmacy monopoly. This is a structural difference from Italy and Portugal: in Spain, even a paracetamol package is sold only in a pharmacy. The Spanish regime is closer to that of France, where any medicinal product is reserved to pharmacies, than to that of Italy.

What may be sold

A Spanish parafarmacia may sell:

• Cosmetic products under Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, including sun protection, dermocosmetics, hair and body care, and oral hygiene cosmetics.
• Food supplements (complementos alimenticios) within the meaning of Directive 2002/46/EC, as transposed by Real Decreto 1487/2009, of 26 September.
• Personal-care and hygiene products not classified as medicinal products.
• Food for specific groups under Regulation (EU) No 609/2013, subject to the applicable EU and Spanish rules. Infant formula has its own channel rule, covered in the product-by-product guide.
• Medical devices bearing the CE mark under Regulation (EU) 2017/745, AEMPS states that the law sets no specific sales channel for medical devices, other than products adapted to the individual, and names parafarmacias among the possible outlets. Two exceptions matter and are listed below.
• Orthopaedic and other individually adapted products, if the outlet has regional authorisation and a suitably qualified professional (Article 26 of Real Decreto 192/2023).

What may not be sold

• Any medicinal product for human use, including over-the-counter (EFP) medicines.
• Magistral or officinal preparations, which require a pharmacist and an authorised galenic laboratory.
• In vitro self-tests, including pregnancy, HIV and glucose tests. Article 19(7) of Real Decreto 942/2025 reserves their retail sale to pharmacies and a pharmacy's own website, except self-testing software. Spain's competition authority, the CNMC, has challenged this rule before the Supreme Court; no judgment had been found at the time of review.
• Devices in the public pharmaceutical benefit. Since 1 July 2026, Article 24(5) of Real Decreto 90/2026 provides that devices included in that benefit are supplied by pharmacies even when the health system is not paying.

Personnel and registration

A parafarmacia is not required to have a pharmacist on its staff, although some establishments employ one as a commercial choice. Anyone, whether a person or a company, may own one: the pharmacist-only ownership rule applies to the oficina de farmacia, and the vocational title Técnico en Farmacia y Parafarmacia (Real Decreto 1689/2007) is a qualification, not a condition of ownership. There is no national register of parafarmacias as such; the establishment is subject to the general regime of commercial activity. Retailers of medical devices must give prior notice to the regional health authority, and only pharmacies are exempt (Article 24(3) of Real Decreto 192/2023), so a parafarmacia selling devices appears to be covered. Its products are supervised by the Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios (AEMPS) for medical devices and cosmetics, by the Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (AESAN) for food supplements, and by the autonomous communities for consumer-protection enforcement.

Regional variation

Pharmacy law in Spain is competence of both the central state and the autonomous communities. The basic regime (monopoly, definition of medicinal product, etc.) is set centrally, but pharmacy planning, opening hours and certain aspects of practice are governed by autonomous-community legislation. The status of parafarmacias is correspondingly uniform on the medicinal-products question (everywhere excluded from medicines) but can vary on signage. We found no national rule on the green cross, but Madrid (Ley 13/2022, Article 21(3)), Galicia (Ley 3/2019, Article 28(4), and Decreto 20/2025, Article 2(5)) and the Canary Islands (Ley 4/2005, Article 38(b)) reserve it to pharmacies. The Canary Islands law also makes its use by non-pharmacy establishments a minor infraction (Article 84(10)).

Online sales

Online sale of EFP non-prescription medicines from Spain is regulated by Real Decreto 870/2013, of 8 November, and is permitted only by authorised pharmacies. Authorised pharmacies must display the EU common logo for legal online pharmacies. A parafarmacia cannot use this route, because it is not a pharmacy. Online sale of cosmetics, food supplements and medical devices does not require a medicines-specific authorisation in Spain, but remains subject to the relevant EU product rules and to Spanish consumer protection law.

Last reviewed: November 2026.