...a simple packet of painkillers? How hard can it be, I thought yesterday as I had a bit of a headache coming on and needed some kind of ibuprofen/paracetamol tablet.

Normally at home, I would go to Tesco's or Boots or even the local garage and pick up a packet, after being faced with a dazzling array of brand name products, own named products, capsules, tablets, soluble tablets, melting caplets.....

But after lots of searching around supermarkets yesterday I discovered that they are only sold in pharmacies in Spain (I haven't lived here that long, so still learning )

And even then, I still couldn't pick a packet off the shelf, I had to ask the man behind the counter, who then went over to a mysterious drawer in a back room and took out a packet of ibuprofen tablets..........like it was some kind of contraband illegal drug or something!

Had a similar problem in the UK when I needed to buy some "rubbing alcohol". The supermarkets didn't carry it and when I went to the chemist, he gave me the third degree. Also made sure I understood that I could not drink it

Yep you have to go to a pharmacy for medicines.

But once you get there, the world is your oyster.

Prescription drugs (if needed) ie diazepan (not only that obviously) etc can be bought half the price.

If you had something in the UK that you need to take, just keep the box and the pharmacist will give you the equivalent, probably for a half of the price.

I hope I don't sound like Amy Whinehouse now... honest, Rehab NO NO NO!

Well ...... yes you do!

Shop around at farmacias as well, we have one near us that will sell, OTC, Amoxicillin antibiotic, the one just a bit further down the road will not, without precription. You can get Paracetamol in 1000mg tablets here, max in the UK is 500, and you get packets of 40.

:

Yes I will go along with that, when we were recently in Spain I bought two inhalors , price £2.50 each , in UK the prescription would have cost £6.80 or there abouts for each item expensive or what

Its much better in Spain being able to go to the pharmacy rather than have to go to the doctors! I am on Zinnat (Ceferoxine) antibiotics at the moment and it was great to go direct to the pharmacy rather than sitting in a doctors waiting room forever.

We have the added bonus of living on the border to Portugal. You can get the biggest bottle of Benelyn for 4.50 euros in Portugal!