Gran Canaria's 24-hour pharmacy is a rota, not an address. Each night one duty pharmacy covers the whole of Playa del Inglés, Maspalomas and Meloneras, another covers all of Mogán, four cover Las Palmas, and the list changes at 09:00, not at midnight.
Search for a 24-hour pharmacy in Gran Canaria and the results offer addresses that match no pharmacy on the official rota, a shopping centre's opening hours presented as a chemist's, and monthly duty calendars in PDF with no explanation. The arrangement behind them is simpler, and less convenient: at night the island runs on duty pharmacies (farmacias de guardia) that change every morning.
We went through the October 2026 duty rotas of the Colegio Oficial de Farmacéuticos de Las Palmas, the pharmacists' college that publishes them, together with the Canary pharmacy law, the island's long-hours pharmacies and its public and private emergency services. This guide sets out where the duty pharmacy is likely to be in each resort, how to find tonight's, which pharmacies stay open latest and what a pharmacy can hand over without a prescription.
Is there a 24-hour pharmacy in Gran Canaria?
Not in the sense most visitors mean. We found no pharmacy on Gran Canaria that opens 24 hours every day: the official duty rota and the pharmacy federation's listings name none, and every “24-hour” claim we checked online was a single duty night or a shopping centre's hours. At night the island relies on duty pharmacies that take turns.
The rota is a legal duty, not a courtesy. Ley 4/2005, the Canary Islands' pharmacy act, makes the duty rota compulsory for the pharmacies on it (article 51) and treats any extra hours a pharmacy announces as binding once it has notified them (article 50). Decreto 33/2013, which amended the islands' rules on opening hours and duty, requires at least one duty pharmacy in each planning area and sets a target of reaching one in about fifteen minutes by ordinary transport.
The planning area is usually the municipality, and that explains most of what surprises visitors. A hotel in Meloneras and one in Playa del Inglés share a single night pharmacy, and so does every resort in Mogán from Arguineguín to Puerto de Mogán. On any given night, that pharmacy may be a taxi ride from where you are staying.
Two “24-hour” claims circulate in English. One guide places a 24-hour pharmacy in the Yumbo Centre in Playa del Inglés, but the Yumbo pharmacy's own listing gives weekday hours of 09:00 to 21:00 and a Saturday morning; the “Open 365, 24 hours” line on the centre's website belongs to the shopping centre. Aggregator sites, meanwhile, label whichever pharmacy is on duty as “open 24h”, which is true for that one shift only.
At night, a duty pharmacy may serve you through a hatch (ventanilla) rather than letting you in. The law requires every pharmacy that does duty to have a way of dispensing without customers entering the premises (article 51.4).
How do you find tonight's duty pharmacy?
Use the pharmacy finder of the Colegio Oficial de Farmacéuticos de Las Palmas, the body that publishes the island's rota: choose your municipality, switch to “Pharmacies on duty” and set the date. After midnight, search the previous day, because duty shifts run from 09:00 to 09:00. Without data, read the notice on any pharmacy's door.
- Open the finder at coflaspalmas.es. It has an English version; the map appears only once you accept cookies.
- Pick the municipality, not the resort, under “By population”. Playa del Inglés, Maspalomas, Meloneras and San Agustín are in San Bartolomé de Tirajana; Puerto Rico, Arguineguín and Puerto de Mogán are in Mogán; Vecindario and El Doctoral are in Santa Lucía de Tirajana.
- Switch “All pharmacies” to “Pharmacies on duty” and enter the date. Between midnight and 09:00, enter yesterday's date: the shift that began at 09:00 the previous morning is still running.
- Read the hours carefully. The English version labels morning hours “Tomorrow:”, a mistranslation of the Spanish Mañana, which here means morning. “Afternoon:” means what it says.
- Phone before you set off. The number is in the result. At night some duty pharmacies serve through the hatch, and a few northern municipalities run on-call duty instead of an open door.
No signal, or no data? Walk to the nearest pharmacy, open or shut. Under article 51.3 of the Canary pharmacy act, every pharmacy, not only the one on duty, must show on its front the details of the nearest pharmacies on duty.
Newspapers and websites republish the same calendar: Canarias7 runs a daily page by municipality, and several apps and aggregators copy the Colegio's monthly rota. They are useful as a cross-check, but they are copies, and a copy can miss a late change. The Colegio's switchboard is an office line staffed on weekday mornings, not a night service.
Where is the night pharmacy in Playa del Inglés, Maspalomas and Meloneras?
Wherever San Bartolomé de Tirajana's rota puts it that night. The municipality, which takes in Playa del Inglés, Maspalomas, Meloneras, San Agustín and San Fernando, has one duty pharmacy overnight, rotating through 24 pharmacies on a 24-day cycle. In October 2026 it was in Playa del Inglés on 10 nights and in San Fernando on 9.
| Where the duty pharmacy was, October 2026 |
|---|
| Playa del Inglés · 10 nights |
| San Fernando · 9 nights |
| El Tablero · 6 nights |
| San Agustín · 3 nights |
| Sonnenland · 1 night |
| Meloneras · 1 night |
| Maspalomas, by the lighthouse · 1 night |
Those counts come from the Colegio's October 2026 rota for the municipality; three of the San Fernando nights are placed by street address.
From a hotel in Meloneras or at the lighthouse end of Maspalomas, the duty pharmacy will usually be a drive away: in Playa del Inglés, in San Fernando or in El Tablero, an inland residential district few visitors know by name. Guests in San Agustín and Bahía Feliz are in the same position on most nights.
Weekends add a second option. From 17 October 2026 the municipal rota lists a second pharmacy on Saturdays and Sundays marked Abierto hasta las 22:00 horas (open until 22:00). It did not appear on the first two weekends of the month, so treat it as a winter-season addition and check the date.
Before 22:00 you have more choice. Farmacia Agaete Parque on Avenida de Tenerife in Playa del Inglés opens from 09:00 to 22:00 every day of the week, the longest regular hours in the municipality, and the pharmacy in the Centro Comercial Bellavista in San Fernando opens until 22:00 from Monday to Saturday. The full list is in the table of late pharmacies below.
Where is the night pharmacy in Puerto Rico, Arguineguín and Puerto de Mogán?
Usually in Puerto Rico or Arguineguín. Mogán has one duty pharmacy a night for the whole municipality, rotating through nine pharmacies. In October 2026 it was in Puerto Rico on 11 nights, Arguineguín on 10, Patalavaca on 4, and Mogán town and Puerto de Mogán on 3 each. Taurito, Amadores and Tauro have no pharmacy.
In October the rota never sent anyone outside the municipality, but Mogán is long. A guest in Puerto de Mogán or Taurito is looking at a drive east along the coast to Puerto Rico or Arguineguín on most nights, or inland to Mogán town on a few. Neither the Colegio's rota, nor Mogán's tourism office, nor the Canary pharmacy federation lists any pharmacy in Taurito, Amadores or Tauro, so even a daytime need means a trip.
Daytime hours are Mogán's strength. Three Puerto Rico pharmacies open seven days a week and close between 21:00 and 22:00, and the pharmacy on Subida Los Riscos in Puerto de Mogán opens until 21:30 from Monday to Saturday and from 10:00 to 19:00 on Sundays. Arguineguín's pharmacies close at 21:00 or 21:30 on weekdays and early on Saturdays.
One quirk catches people out. Rotas name pharmacies by their licence holder rather than a shop name, and Mogán's tourism page still lists former holders for several of them. Go by street address and phone number, which do not change when a pharmacy changes hands.
How many pharmacies are open at night in Las Palmas?
Four on most nights, out of about 126 in the city. The Colegio's 2026 calendar for Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the island's capital, puts four pharmacies on 24-hour duty each day and five on 22 days of the year, each shift running from 09:00 to 09:00. On Sundays and holidays, four or five more stay open until 22:00.
The four are spread across the city rather than grouped in the centre. On Tuesday 20 October 2026, for example, they were on Calle Tenerife by the Mercado del Puerto, near Las Canteras, on Calle Perojo at the corner of Murga, on Avenida Pintor Felo Monzón near the Siete Palmas shopping centre, and on León y Castillo beside Clínica Santa Catalina. From 09:00 the next morning, a different four took over.
Sundays are easier than they look for cruise passengers and anyone staying around Las Canteras or Santa Catalina. On every Sunday and holiday in October 2026, the group of pharmacies open until 22:00 included one in the Santa Catalina, port or Las Canteras area.
We found no Las Palmas pharmacy that keeps extended hours every day. Outside the duty four and the Sunday group, city pharmacies keep ordinary hours, and the pharmacies closest to the two public hospitals stay open late only on their own rota dates. If you leave either hospital at night with a prescription, look up the duty list before you leave the building.
One search tip: write the city out in full. “Las Palmas” on its own pulls in results for La Palma, a different island with its own rota.
What about Telde, Vecindario and the north of the island?
Outside the capital and the two resort municipalities, the pattern is one duty pharmacy per municipality or shared zone. Telde has one for the whole municipality, from Jinámar to the coast at Melenara and Salinetas; Agüimes and Ingenio share one overnight plus a second until 22:00; Santa Lucía, which includes Vecindario and El Doctoral, has one.
Santa Lucía's rota needs a closer look. It labels some El Doctoral duty days Guardia 24h., meaning a 24-hour shift that day, and leaves the hours of other duty days unstated, so phone before travelling. One of the El Doctoral pharmacies that takes those 24-hour shifts, on Avenida del Atlántico, normally closes at 21:30 on weekdays. In the daytime, Vecindario is the best-served stretch of the south-east: several pharmacies on Avenida de Canarias open until 22:00, and one opens until 21:00 on Saturdays and Sundays.
In the north, Arucas, Santa Brígida, Teror and Moya each have one duty pharmacy a night, and so does Gáldar. Agaete works differently: its duty is on call (guardia localizada), alternating weekly between the town centre and Puerto de las Nieves, where the ferry to Tenerife docks, so call the duty number rather than turning up. Published sources disagree on whether Firgas and Santa María de Guía have their own duty pharmacy or are covered from Moya and Gáldar; the Colegio's finder for the date settles it.
Which pharmacies stay open latest?
None that we found opens past 22:00 on an ordinary day. The latest regular hours are at Farmacia Agaete Parque in Playa del Inglés (09:00 to 22:00 daily), the Centro Comercial Puerto Rico pharmacy (until 21:45 or 22:00 every day) and several pharmacies on Avenida de Canarias in Vecindario. After 22:00, only the duty pharmacy is open.
| Late and Sunday pharmacies by area |
|---|
| Playa del Inglés, San Fernando, Maspalomas |
| Farmacia Agaete Parque Avenida de Tenerife 8 Playa del Inglés 928 730 585 Every day 09:00–22:00 |
| Centro Comercial Bellavista C/ Partera Leonorita 6 (rota: no. 8) San Fernando 928 775 356 Mon–Sat 09:00–22:00 |
| Avenida Alejandro del Castillo 14 San Fernando 928 771 625 Mon–Fri 09:00–22:00 Sat 09:00–14:00 |
| Paseo del Faro 12 Maspalomas, by the lighthouse 928 141 552 Mon–Fri 09:00–19:45 Sat and Sun 09:30–14:00 |
| Puerto Rico and Puerto de Mogán |
| Centro Comercial Puerto Rico Puerto Rico 928 560 661 Mon–Fri 09:00–22:00 Sat 09:15–21:45 Sun 09:00–22:00 |
| Avenida de la Cornisa 22 Puerto Rico 928 561 019 Mon–Sat until 22:00 (federation) or 21:30 (tourism office) Sun 09:00–21:00 |
| Centro Comercial Pasarela (rota address: C/ Río Piedras 2) Puerto Rico 928 725 013 Every day 09:00–22:00 (tourism office only) |
| Subida Los Riscos 3 Puerto de Mogán 928 565 504 Mon–Sat 09:00–21:30 Sun 10:00–19:00 |
| Vecindario and El Doctoral |
| Avenida de Canarias 123 Vecindario 928 751 206 Mon–Fri 08:00–22:00 Sat and Sun 09:00–21:00 |
| Avenida de Canarias 272 Vecindario 928 750 071 Mon–Sat 09:00–22:00 Sun 10:00–14:00 and 17:00–21:00 |
| Avenida de Canarias 423 El Doctoral 928 752 345 Mon–Fri 08:00–22:00 Sat 09:00–22:00 |
| Gran Canaria Airport |
| Floor 1, Departures, public area 928 575 655 Mon–Fri 06:00–19:30 Sat and Sun 08:00–20:00 |
Hours come from each pharmacy's own website where it has one, otherwise from the Canary pharmacy federation (FEFARCAN) or Mogán's tourism office, as published in October 2026. Where two sources disagree, both are shown. Pharmacies can change their hours, so phone before a special trip.
Is there a pharmacy at Gran Canaria airport?
Yes, on Floor 1 in the public area of Departures. Aena lists it as open from 06:00 to 19:30 on weekdays and from 08:00 to 20:00 at weekends, adding that times may change with flight schedules; the phone number is 928 575 655. Land after it closes and you need that night's duty pharmacy in Agüimes–Ingenio, Telde or Santa Lucía, depending on the date.
What can a pharmacy sell you without a prescription?
Anything Spain classes as a non-prescription medicine, such as paracetamol and some lower-strength ibuprofen, plus the creams, sprays and remedies on the shelves. Antibiotics are always prescription-only: Spain's medicines agency lists every amoxicillin, azithromycin and ciprofloxacin product, ear drops included, as needing a prescription. At night, the duty pharmacy's obligation is to prescriptions and urgent needs.
The legal test is in article 19 of Spain's medicines law, Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2015: a medicine needs a prescription whenever it could be dangerous without medical supervision, even in normal use. Some medicines sold off the shelf at home are prescription-only here, and a pharmacist cannot make an exception for a familiar brand or a visitor's word. Our guide to what you can buy over the counter in Spain goes through the common categories.
The mismatch we see most often is a medicine bought off the shelf at home that needs a prescription here. The request usually reaches us after a pharmacist has already said no.
The night rules are narrower still. Under Decreto 33/2013, a duty pharmacy must supply prescribed medicines, and must supply non-prescription medicines and products where a situation needs immediate pharmaceutical attention. The night service exists for urgent needs: a fever or an earache rather than sun cream.
Not every shop with a cross outside is a pharmacy. A parafarmacia sells cosmetics, sun care, supplements and baby products, often with long resort hours, but Spanish law reserves medicines for authorised pharmacies (article 3.6 of the same law), so a parafarmacia cannot sell you even paracetamol. Look for the word farmacia on the sign.
Brand names change from country to country, so ask by active ingredient (ibuprofeno rather than a brand) and ask for the generic (genérico). Our guide to medication names in Spain lists the common equivalents.
Will a Gran Canaria pharmacy accept a prescription from home?
Only if it comes from another EU country. A paper prescription from an EU member state can be dispensed if it carries the details Spanish law requires, and e-prescriptions from 11 countries can be collected directly. UK, US, Canadian and Australian prescriptions have no legal route in Spain, so the pharmacist cannot use them.
- Paper prescription from another EU country: valid under article 15 bis of Real Decreto 1718/2010 if it shows the patient's full name and date of birth; the date of issue; the prescriber's full name, qualification, direct contact details with the international prefix, work address including the country, and signature; and the medicine's common name, form, quantity, strength and dosage. The pharmacist may refuse if anything is missing or authenticity is in doubt, and medicines that need Spain's special narcotics prescription are excluded.
- E-prescription from an EU country (MyHealth@EU): Canary pharmacies dispense e-prescriptions from Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal. You show official photo ID, not the European health card, pay the full price and claim it back at home. Narcotics, psychotropics, medicines with more than four active ingredients, magistral formulas and individual vaccines are excluded.
- Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland: article 15 bis is written for prescriptions from EU member states and is silent on these four countries.
- The UK, the US, Canada, Australia and everywhere else: the decree has no provision for prescriptions issued outside the EU, so there is nothing a pharmacist can dispense against.
- Spanish prescriptions: a public e-prescription from another Spanish region can be collected at any pharmacy in Spain with the health card, and a private prescription, including one issued online, is valid at any pharmacy in Spain.
The e-prescription list is where most of Gran Canaria's visitors fall through the gap. The Canary Islands were the first Spanish region to dispense a foreign e-prescription, to a Portuguese visitor in November 2022, but of the island's main markets only Finland is connected: e-prescriptions from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland and the UK cannot be collected here. Those countries sent most of Gran Canaria's 4.7 million air arrivals in 2025.
Our own e-prescriptions are collected on Gran Canaria the same way as anywhere else in Spain: the pharmacy reads the code we send, and visitors identify themselves with a passport.
If the treatment is one you already take and the prescription from home won't work here, our guide to refilling a prescription as a tourist in Spain explains the routes, and how prescriptions work in Spain covers validity and the EU rules in more detail. A Spanish prescription is valid for ten days from its date.
Told you need a prescription?
A Spanish-licensed doctor can review your request online and, if appropriate, issue an e-prescription valid at any pharmacy in Spain, Gran Canaria's duty pharmacies included.
Request a prescriptionStandard €15 (24 h) · Express €20 (1 h) · Instant €30 (15 min)
Do medicines cost more at night, or less in the Canaries?
Neither more at night nor more than on the mainland. Neither the Canary pharmacy law nor the national price rules provide for a night or duty surcharge, and medicines carry 0% of the Canary sales tax, IGIC, instead of the 4% VAT built into mainland prices. A regulated medicine listed nationally at €10.40 should cost about €10.00 here.
The tax rule is in Decreto Legislativo 1/2025, which consolidated the Canary indirect taxes in October 2025: article 33 sets a zero rate for medicines for human use authorised by Spain's medicines agency. On the mainland, the Ministry of Health's price formula makes the retail price with VAT exactly 1.04 times the price before tax. Remove the VAT and the same box costs just under 4% less.
No official page spells out the Canary counter price in those words, and the arithmetic holds most cleanly for medicines whose prices the state sets. Your receipt settles it: Spanish law requires it to show the retail price of each medicine dispensed. The zero rate covers medicines only; sun cream, cosmetics and other products are taxed at other rates and priced by each shop.
Price does not change with the hour, either. A prescription medicine handed through the hatch at 03:00 carries the official price it carries at midday: the Canary act contains no surcharge provision, and the national margins that build the retail price have no time-of-day element.
Where do you go when a pharmacy isn't enough?
For anything serious, call 112. Gran Canaria's two public emergency departments are both in Las Palmas: Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Doctor Negrín and the Insular–Materno Infantil complex, which takes children's and maternity emergencies from the whole island. The south has no public hospital; the emergency departments near the resorts are private.
| Emergency departments on Gran Canaria |
|---|
| Hospital Dr. Negrín (public) Barranco de la Ballena s/n Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 928 450 000 Emergency department open 24 hours EHIC and GHIC accepted |
| Insular–Materno Infantil (public) Avda. Marítima del Sur s/n Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 928 444 000 (Insular) 928 444 500 (Materno-Infantil) Children and maternity: whole island EHIC and GHIC accepted |
| Hospiten Roca (private) C. Buganvilla 1, San Agustín 928 76 90 04 Emergency department 24 hours, all year Insurers; the EHIC and GHIC don't apply |
| San Roque Maspalomas (private) C/ Mar de Siberia 1, Meloneras 928 40 40 40 Emergency service; hours not on its site The EHIC and GHIC don't apply |
| Vithas Las Palmas (private) C/ León y Castillo 292 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 928 297 151 A&E open 24 hours Deposit required from private patients |
The European card works only in the public system. GOV.UK puts it plainly: “You cannot use either card for private healthcare.” A visitor treated at a private hospital pays, or has a travel insurer authorise the treatment, and Vithas Las Palmas states that private patients leave a deposit. Without a card or an insurer, the public system bills its own prices under Decreto 81/2009, raised by 1% in August 2026; a primary-care consultation cost €71 at 2024 prices.
A correction worth knowing: the UK government's list of medical facilities in Spain gives Hospiten Roca the number +34 928 278 826, which the hospital's own website does not use. Hospiten lists +34 928 76 90 04.
Below the hospitals sit the health service's out-of-hours points in health centres. The Maspalomas and El Doctoral centres were given 24-hour urgent cover in November 2017, and Arguineguín's was reinforced until 22:00 over Easter 2023, but the Servicio Canario de la Salud publishes no current list with hours. The Negrín's own guidance sends problems that are not life-threatening to a health-centre urgent service first; if you are unsure which is open, call 112.
How do you get to the duty pharmacy at night?
By taxi, in most cases. Taxi trips between municipalities switch to the night rate from 22:00 to 06:00 on weekdays and all day on Sundays and holidays: €4.25 at the flag, then €1.55 a kilometre. From the south, Global's line 5 bus runs hourly through the night between Faro de Maspalomas, Playa del Inglés, the airport and Las Palmas.
| Taxi fares between municipalities |
|---|
| Day, 06:00–22:00 · €3.85 + €1.35 per km |
| Night, 22:00–06:00 · €4.25 + €1.55 per km |
| Sundays and holidays · €4.25 + €1.55 per km |
| Waiting time · €18.50 an hour |
| Airport supplement · €2.10 |
Those are the Canary-wide fares for trips between municipalities (Orden of 14 March 2023), as Aena lists them for the airport rank, so they apply when the duty pharmacy is in the next municipality or in Las Palmas. Trips within one municipality use local fares: Las Palmas applies its night rate from 22:00 to 06:00, while the published fare lists for San Bartolomé de Tirajana and Mogán date from 2009 and 2012.
- Global line 5: hourly through the night between San Telmo in Las Palmas and Faro de Maspalomas, via the airport stop at Ojos de Garza, El Doctoral, Playa del Inglés and San Fernando. On weekdays it leaves San Telmo at 00:00, 01:00, 02:00 and 03:00, and Faro de Maspalomas at 00:05, 01:05, 02:05, 03:05 and 04:35, with an extra 04:25 on Saturdays and holidays.
- Global line 1: leaves Puerto de Mogán northbound at 00:40, 01:40 and 02:40 on weekdays. The timetable does not show whether those night runs stop in Puerto Rico and Arguineguín, so check at the stop before relying on one.
- Las Palmas night buses: Guaguas Municipales lines L1 and L2 run until about 05:00. L1 stops at the car park of the Insular–Materno Infantil hospitals and L2 at Hospital Dr. Negrín; both were rerouted from 19 October 2026 during works at the Teatro hub.
For anything that can't wait for the next bus, a taxi or 112 is the realistic option. At the airport, Aena sends passengers to the signed taxi rank on level 0 and lists two taxi lines, 928 154 777 and 928 837 543.
What online care cannot do, ours included
It cannot open a pharmacy at 03:00, examine you or treat an emergency. What it can do is solve the prescription part: a doctor can review a medicine you already take, or a condition that can be judged from symptoms and history, and issue a Spanish e-prescription that any pharmacy in Spain can dispense, that night's duty pharmacy included.
We cannot prescribe medicines that need Spain's special narcotics prescription (strong opioids, ADHD stimulants), we don't prescribe benzodiazepines or Z-drugs online, we can't examine anyone, and we don't handle emergencies (112). No prescription is guaranteed before a doctor reviews the case. If the doctor can't prescribe, the patient isn't charged.
Two limits are particular to the island. A prescription does not bring the duty pharmacy closer: in Mogán or San Bartolomé it may still be a taxi ride away, so when you can, sort out tonight's medicine before the day pharmacies close at 21:00 or 22:00. And the duty pharmacy can only dispense what it has in stock, so phone ahead with the name of the medicine.
Among winter long-stayers, the request we see most is a regular treatment that has run short before the end of the stay. Our guide to repeat prescriptions for long stays in Spain explains how to keep one going, and our guide to 24-hour pharmacies in Tenerife covers the neighbouring island's rota if you are travelling on.
Staying on the island for the winter?
A Spanish-licensed doctor can review an established treatment online and, when it is safe to continue, issue a private e-prescription valid at any pharmacy in Spain.
Start a consultationStandard €15 (24 h) · Express €20 (1 h) · Instant €30 (15 min)
Frequently asked questions
Is there a 24-hour pharmacy in Gran Canaria?
Not one that opens 24 hours every day. At night Gran Canaria relies on duty pharmacies (farmacias de guardia) that change every morning at 09:00: four in Las Palmas and usually one per municipality elsewhere, so a single pharmacy covers all of Playa del Inglés, Maspalomas and Meloneras. Find tonight's in the Las Palmas pharmacists' college finder or on the notice outside any pharmacy.
Which pharmacy is open tonight in Playa del Inglés or Maspalomas?
It changes every night. San Bartolomé de Tirajana, which includes Playa del Inglés, Maspalomas, Meloneras and San Agustín, has one duty pharmacy overnight, rotating through 24 pharmacies; it is most often in Playa del Inglés or San Fernando. Check the Las Palmas pharmacists' college finder for the date, using the previous day's date after midnight, and phone before you go.
Is there a pharmacy open on Sunday in Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria?
Yes. The pharmacy in the Centro Comercial Puerto Rico lists Sunday hours of 09:00 to 22:00, and the pharmacy at Avenida de la Cornisa 22 opens from 09:00 to 21:00 on Sundays. In Puerto de Mogán, the pharmacy on Subida Los Riscos opens from 10:00 to 19:00 on Sundays. Later at night, Mogán's single duty pharmacy covers the whole municipality.
Is there a pharmacy at Gran Canaria airport?
Yes. It is on Floor 1, in the public area of Departures, and Aena lists it as open from 06:00 to 19:30 on weekdays and from 08:00 to 20:00 at weekends, with times that can change with flight schedules. Its number is 928 575 655. After it closes, you need that night's duty pharmacy in a nearby municipality.
Can I buy antibiotics over the counter in Gran Canaria?
No. Antibiotics are prescription-only throughout Spain, the Canary Islands included, and Spain's medicines agency lists every amoxicillin, azithromycin and ciprofloxacin product as needing a prescription. A pharmacist cannot make an exception, at the hatch or at the counter. You need a prescription from a doctor in Spain, including an online Spanish prescriber, or a valid prescription from another EU country.
Will a pharmacy in Gran Canaria accept my UK prescription?
No. Spanish prescription law has no route for prescriptions written outside the European Union, which since Brexit includes the UK. Paper prescriptions from EU countries can be dispensed if they carry the required details, and e-prescriptions from 11 EU countries, including Finland and Portugal, can be collected directly. UK visitors need a Spanish prescription, which any pharmacy in Spain can fill.
Are medicines cheaper in the Canary Islands?
Slightly. Medicines carry 0% of the Canary sales tax, IGIC, while mainland prices include 4% VAT, so a medicine whose price the state sets should cost just under 4% less on Gran Canaria than on the mainland. There is no night surcharge. Sun cream, cosmetics and other non-medicine products are taxed differently and priced by each shop.
What is the difference between a farmacia and a parafarmacia?
A farmacia is a licensed pharmacy run by a pharmacist, and the only kind of shop allowed to sell medicines. A parafarmacia sells cosmetics, sun care, supplements and baby products, and cannot sell any medicine, not even paracetamol. In the resorts both often keep long hours, so check that the sign says farmacia before you go in.
Where is the nearest emergency department to Playa del Inglés?
The emergency departments near the southern resorts are private: Hospiten Roca in San Agustín is open 24 hours, and San Roque Maspalomas is in Meloneras. The public emergency departments, where the EHIC and GHIC are accepted, are both in Las Palmas. In a medical emergency, call 112 from any phone.
Sources
- Boletín Oficial del Estado — Ley 4/2005, de 13 de julio, de Ordenación Farmacéutica de Canarias. Supports regular and extended hours, the compulsory duty rota, the duty notice on every pharmacy and the night hatch (articles 49 to 51). Accessed 20 October 2026. boe.es
- Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública — reproduction of Decreto 33/2013, de 8 de marzo, amending Decreto 57/2009 on pharmacy hours, duty and holidays in the Canary Islands. Supports duty planning areas, the fifteen-minute target and what a duty pharmacy must supply at night. Accessed 20 October 2026. inap.es
- Colegio Oficial de Farmacéuticos de Las Palmas — pharmacy finder, English version. Supports the duty filter, the date search and the “Tomorrow:” label. Accessed 20 October 2026. coflaspalmas.es
- Colegio Oficial de Farmacéuticos de Las Palmas — information for travellers. Supports e-prescriptions from other Spanish regions, EU paper prescriptions and the MyHealth@EU country list dated 19 August 2026. Accessed 20 October 2026. coflaspalmas.es
- Colegio Oficial de Farmacéuticos de Las Palmas — October 2026 duty rotas, as republished by Farmaten. Supports the number of duty pharmacies, shift patterns and where each night's pharmacy was. Accessed 20 October 2026. Las Palmas · San Bartolomé de Tirajana · Mogán · Telde · Santa Lucía · Agüimes–Ingenio · Agaete
- Canarias.app and Canarias en Pleno — Las Palmas de Gran Canaria duty calendar and July 2026 report. Support the 09:00 to 09:00 shift. Accessed 20 October 2026. canarias.app · canariasenpleno.com
- Canarias7 — daily duty pharmacies by municipality. Supports the newspaper listing. Accessed 20 October 2026. canarias7.es
- Federación de Empresarios Farmacéuticos de Canarias (FEFARCAN) — pharmacy listings for San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Mogán and Santa Lucía de Tirajana. Supports regular opening hours in the late-pharmacy table. Accessed 20 October 2026. San Bartolomé · Mogán · Santa Lucía · Santa Lucía, page 2
- Farmacia Agaete Parque — own website. Supports its address, phone and daily hours. Accessed 20 October 2026. farmaciaagaeteparque.com
- Ayuntamiento de Mogán, tourism office — health centres and pharmacies. Supports Mogán pharmacy hours and the listed licence holders. Accessed 20 October 2026. turismo.mogan.es
- Yumbo Centrum — pharmacy page. Supports the Yumbo pharmacy's hours and the shopping centre's own opening line. Accessed 20 October 2026. yumbocentrum.com
- Aena — Gran Canaria Airport pharmacy, and taxi information. Supports the airport pharmacy's location, hours and phone, and the interurban taxi fares, supplements and taxi lines. Accessed 20 October 2026. pharmacy · taxi
- Boletín Oficial de Canarias — Orden de 14 de marzo de 2023 on interurban taxi fares; Gobierno de Canarias taxi fare lists by municipality. Support the night and holiday bands and the dates of the municipal lists. Accessed 20 October 2026. BOC 2023/059 · fare lists
- Global and Guaguas Municipales — line 5, line 1 and night lines L1 and L2. Support the night bus times and hospital stops. Accessed 20 October 2026. line 5 · line 1 · L1 · L2
- Boletín Oficial del Estado — Real Decreto 1718/2010 on medical prescriptions, consolidated text. Supports prescription validity, patient identification and EU prescriptions (articles 3, 5, 10 and 15 bis). Accessed 20 October 2026. boe.es
- Boletín Oficial del Estado — Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2015, the medicines law. Supports prescription status, the reservation of medicines to pharmacies and the contents of the receipt (articles 3 and 19). Accessed 20 October 2026. boe.es
- Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios, CIMA — product listings for amoxicillin, azithromycin and ciprofloxacin. Support their prescription-only status. Accessed 20 October 2026. amoxicillin · azithromycin · ciprofloxacin
- Ministerio de Sanidad — e-prescriptions in the European Union. Supports the MyHealth@EU country list. Accessed 20 October 2026. sanidad.gob.es
- RTVC — the Canary Islands' first dispensing of an EU e-prescription, November 2022. Accessed 20 October 2026. rtvc.es
- Consejo General de Colegios Oficiales de Médicos — terms for certified private e-prescription systems. Supports dispensing of private e-prescriptions at any pharmacy in Spain. Accessed 20 October 2026. cgcom.es
- Boletín Oficial del Estado — Decreto Legislativo 1/2025, de 13 de octubre, Canary indirect taxes, consolidated text. Supports the 0% IGIC rate for medicines (article 33). Accessed 20 October 2026. boe.es
- Ministerio de Sanidad — pharmacy margins and price conversion factors. Supports the 1.04 ratio between retail prices with and without VAT. Accessed 20 October 2026. sanidad.gob.es
- Servicio Canario de la Salud — Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Doctor Negrín emergency department and patient guide; Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Insular–Materno Infantil general data and catchment. Support the hospitals' addresses, phones, 24-hour service and island-wide children's and maternity cover. Accessed 20 October 2026. Negrín · patient guide · Insular–Materno Infantil · catchment
- Hospiten, Vithas and Hospitales San Roque — the private hospitals' own pages, and the Expomeloneras listing for San Roque Maspalomas. Support their addresses, phones, emergency hours and deposit terms. Accessed 20 October 2026. Hospiten Roca · Vithas Las Palmas · San Roque · Expomeloneras
- GOV.UK — Healthcare for UK nationals visiting Spain, and the FCDO list of medical facilities and practitioners in Spain. Support the card rules and the listed Hospiten number. Accessed 20 October 2026. healthcare guidance · medical facilities list
- Canarias7, July 2026 — citizens' platform calling for a hospital in the south-east. Supports the absence of a public hospital in the south. Accessed 20 October 2026. canarias7.es
- Redacción Médica and Gobierno de Canarias — 24-hour urgent cover at Maspalomas and El Doctoral (November 2017) and the Easter 2023 reinforcement of primary-care urgent services. Accessed 20 October 2026. redaccionmedica.com · gobiernodecanarias.org
- Boletín Oficial de Canarias — Decreto 81/2009 on public health prices and the Resolución of 14 August 2026 (BOC 178); Redacción Médica, 18 April 2024, on the Canary prices charged to patients without cover. Support the 1% uprating and the €71 consultation price. Accessed 20 October 2026. Decreto 81/2009 · BOC 178/2026 · redaccionmedica.com
- Servicio de Urgencias Canario — service charter. Supports 112 coordination around the clock. Accessed 20 October 2026. gobiernodecanarias.org
- Promotur and ISTAC — Frontur Canarias, December 2025. Supports Gran Canaria's 2025 air arrivals by market. Accessed 20 October 2026. turismodeislascanarias.com