Just before Christmas in the Valencia region pharmacies closed for two days ,with only emergency cover in every area.It now seems that that may not be the last of the closures.

The pharmacies are still owed money for the medications which they dispense to patients , by the Valencia government.

In Spain the pharmacists buy the medication and then they claim it back from the government.When a patient collects a  prescription the pharmacist always removes the bar code from the packaging for their invoices.It has always been accepted that they are paid two or even three months in arrears but this practice has slipped back to 6 months because the government does not have enough money to pay.It has been reported that  60 million euros was paid up until the end of December.There is now another set of bills to pay and if some money is not forthcoming then more strikes are on the cards.

Pharmacies cannot keep subsidising the government and many are already in financial trouble because of having to take out loans to cover their costs.The recent closure was supported by virtually 100% of chemists.

It is estimated that the  government owes 312 million euros but the College of Pharmacists puts the figure closer to 550 million euros.