Spanish pensioners,and Ex Pats who currently do not have to pay for prescription medicines, will be obliged to contribute 10 percent toward them under new Health Ministry guidelines designed to slash seven billion Euro from the state’s expenditure on public healthcare. The subsidy will be capped at eight Euro per month for retired citizens with income of less than 18,000 Euro per year and 18 Euro for those that exceed that figure.

Active workers will continue to pay 40 percent toward prescriptions if they fall into the former earnings bracket and 50 percent in the case of the latter. People who earn more than 100,000 Euro a year will pay up to 60 percent.They say there will be special rules with regards to chronic sufferers  who are in receipt of constant medication. :(

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/04/18/inenglish/1334773062_431794.html

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Further update. The rest of Spain is as above and awaits a Royal decree but it could be that here in Catalonia you will pay 1 Euro per item on top of what is stated above.

Catalonia’s drug prescription fee    :o



Catalan citizens will have to pay a €1 fee for each drug prescription from June onwards. However, neither low income earners will have to pay the fee: nor those on non-contributory pensions, receivers of the minimum income integration grant, and chronically-ill patients. Furthermore, the fee will not be charged for medication that costs less than €1.67 and after 62 prescriptions in one year. The Catalan Government expects to obtain €180 million in additional revenue in 2013, as the fee will also reduce spending due to its dissuasive impact.