Thursday, July 17, 2025

Miki's First Post - Pharmacies / Farmacías

Dennis likes to blog about places we’ve been but he won’t be doing all the blogging. My name is in the title too!  I like to talk about the everyday things that I notice when I’m out and about – differences and/or similarities between Spain and the US.

Pharmacies (Farmacías) are quite different here. As you would expect, their main purpose is to sell medications, both by prescription and non-prescription. They also carry some health and beauty aids, hygiene products, and baby products.  Things you will NOT find are: school supplies, food and drink, greeting cards, holiday decorations, books, toys, laundry detergent, household cleaners, etc… (all the thing you do find at CVS, RiteAid, and Walgreens). You will also not see the piles and piles of bagged prescriptions waiting to be picked up. The farmacías are known for their efficiency in filling prescriptions. When you present your prescription the pharmacist enters the information into the computer and then the automated retrieval system whirrs into action. A few seconds later the manufacturer’s pack drops down the chute and is handed to you. Farmacías can only be owned by licensed pharmacists, and the pharmacists are limited to owning only one farmacía. The farmacías are quite numerous. In our neighborhood there are 3 that we can walk to within 5 minutes.

A random picture from my walk, just because.

No comments:

Post a Comment