You’ve realised, usually somewhere between unpacking and the second day, that your regular medication is still at home — or the pack you brought has run out sooner than planned. Before you assume you need a doctor, come talk to us. A lot of this gets solved without one.
What we can do without a prescription
Identify what you’re taking, even without the box. Tell us the name (brand or active ingredient), the dose, and roughly what it’s for, or show us a photo of the packaging if you have one on your phone. Brand names differ between countries, so knowing the active ingredient is the single most useful thing you can bring — check an old box, an app, or your doctor’s notes if you have access to any of them.
Suggest an over-the-counter equivalent, where one exists. Plenty of everyday medication — pain relief, antihistamines, heartburn treatment, some cold and allergy medicines — has a Spanish OTC equivalent we can hand you directly, in an equivalent dose, no prescription needed.
Bridge a short gap for some prescription medicines, at the pharmacist’s professional judgement, if the situation is clearly a genuine continuity issue and not a first prescription. This isn’t guaranteed and doesn’t apply to every medicine — ask us directly about yours.
If you have a prescription from home
If you’re visiting from another EU country (or Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway) and you do have a valid prescription with you — even electronically, or a paper one that meets the cross-border format — we may be able to dispense it directly. The detail on what that prescription needs to show, and what categories of medicine this doesn’t cover, is in European prescriptions in Spain: how they work.
What genuinely needs a doctor
Some situations can’t be resolved at a pharmacy counter, however much we’d like to help:
- Controlled or restricted medicines — certain psychiatric medication, strong painkillers, some sleep medication — legally require a prescription issued in Spain, whatever you show us from home.
- A new dose adjustment or a medicine you’ve never taken before. We can bridge continuity of something you’re already stable on; we can’t start you on something new.
- Insulin or other medication for a condition that can turn serious quickly without it. Don’t wait to see if you can manage — come in immediately, and we’ll help you get seen if a doctor is what’s needed. This is not a “try tomorrow” situation.
For any of these, we can point you toward getting a same-day appointment or, out of hours, the nearest medical centre.
At Farmàcia Arqué
Come by with whatever you have — packaging, a photo, the name of your usual pharmacy back home, anything. We’re at Passeig de Miramar 72, on Ponent Beach, no appointment needed, and we speak Spanish, Catalan, English and French. Most people leave with either the medicine in hand or a clear next step, not a bigger problem than they walked in with.
Outside our opening hours, the duty pharmacy in Salou covers the 24-hour shift — worth knowing if this happens on a Sunday evening.
This article is for general information. What a specific pharmacy can dispense depends on the medicine, the prescription, and Spanish pharmaceutical law, and is decided case by case at the counter — it does not replace medical advice. If you depend on a medicine to manage a serious condition, do not delay seeking help. Sources: Spanish Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS), Consejo General de Colegios Farmacéuticos de España, Spanish Ministry of Health — cross-border electronic prescription.