Chemist vs Pharmacy

In portugal, these are categorically different, though there is a small overlap. A chemist (parafarmácia) such as Wells, sell simple over the counter items such as headache tablets, eyedrops, vitamins and cosmetics, but they cannot sell prescription medication. For that you need a pharmacy (farmácia).

Lisbon’s farmácias are easily spotted with their neon-green cross signs (as with much of Europe) and there are plenty around. Though there are the larger, sterile, bright white retail pharmacies you may be used to, there are also plenty that, at first glance, seem unassuming and are little more than a single counter. These neighborhood phamacies have usually been servicing the community for eons and should not be dismissed. Not just a dispensary, they are little health hubs who know their clients and the pharmacists there will often give light medical advice, including over-the-counter remedies suitable for your ailment. Depsite their deceptive size, they will have whatever presciption meds you require. You’ll notice them everywhere though they are heavily regulated as to where they can open up and their proximity to one another .

An Anomaly

The only place you won’t find a commercial phamacy? Next to a hosptial. Yep. It was set up this way. Google will tell you it is to prevent phamacy deserts in communities and avoid oversaturation in other more obvious areas like a hospital. The Portuguese will tell you it’s a hangover rule from the communist Salazar era to ensure no singular business could have a monopoly by being the retail pharmacy next to the hospital. Hospitals are the centre of a 1 kilometre diameter pharmacy-free zone, meaning your nearest one will be 500 metres away.

That might sound close but the problem with this is obvious. You’ve gone to the hospital sick or injured, and now you must get yourself to a seperate location for your medication. If you can’t/don’t drive and are elderly, ill or physically disabled, half a kilometre is suddenly pretty far away.