Frequently asked questions on European electronic prescription interoperability

If you have the health card of the autonomous community of Andalucia, Aragon, Canary Islands, Catalonia, Castilla y Leon, Ceuta, Extremadura, Madrid, Melilla or Basque Country, you can pick up your medication in Portugal (from July 28, 2022), in Croatia (from September 29, 2022), in Poland (from December 15, 2022) and in Finland (from March 21, 2023).

Medication may only be collected outside Spain in the case of prescriptions made in your autonomous community of origin, which is the one responsible for issuing the health card. For example, if your health card is from the Basque Country, you will only be able to pick up medication prescribed in the Basque Country.

At the present time you can pick up your medication at any pharmacy in the European countries with open cross-border dispensing service. Up-to-date information is available here

In the case of Portugal, it is only available in a certain number of pharmacies, which you can consult in this link.

A medicine available in one European Union (EU) country may not be available in another EU country, or may be marketed under a different brand name. The pharmacist will dispense an equivalent medicine.

You can pick up any product you have been prescribed, excluding the following:

• Narcotics and psychotropics,
• Effects and Accessories
• Extempore drugs prepared in the pharmacy
• Individualized vaccines and
• Dietoterapic products

If you have a prescription for any of these products, the pharmacist will be able to see them at the pharmacy, but they cannot be dispensed to you.

It is necessary to present the individual health card of your CA of origin. If the health card does not have a photograph, you must bring an official identification document with a photograph (ID card or passport), in order to be correctly identified.

The European Health Card is not valid for picking up medication.

You will pay 100% of the price of the product in the country where you are picking it up. Request the receipt and the invoice of the dispensing made, and once in Spain, present them in your autonomous community of origin to request the reimbursement of the amount that corresponds to you.

You may not pick up medication on behalf of another person.

You may only pick up medication for yourself and only after presenting your individual health card and identifying yourself with an official document (ID card, passport) with your photo.

Before you are dispensed in the pharmacy of another country, a document in Spanish language must be presented to you, where you are informed of the processing of your personal data. This document is called "Patient Information Notice", and its contents can be consulted at the following link

This document explains the category of data being processed, its purposes, who can access your data, the legal basis, how long and where your data will be kept and your rights.