The Provincial Council accepts the certificate from the College of Pharmacists for VEC grants

The Provincial Council of Cáceres has resolved to interpret the guidelines of the 2026 call for grants to pharmacy offices to admit the certificate issued by the Official College of Pharmacists of Cáceres as a valid document to prove the status of Pharmacy with Compromised Economic Viability (VEC). The clarification is published in the Official Provincial Gazette no. 175, dated September 14, 2026, through the resolution with reference BOP-2026-4267, signed in Cáceres on September 10 by the secretary José Álvaro Casas Avilés.

The decision resolves the possible contradiction detected between Fourth Base and Sixth Base of the regulatory guidelines and call for the granting of subsidies under a direct grant regime to pharmacy offices in the province, published in BOP no. 162, dated August 25, 2026. The competent body to interpret the guidelines is the First Vice-Presidency of Territory, Equality, and Culture, by delegation of July 5, 2023, modified by resolution of August 14, 2025.

Scope of the clarification

The resolution interprets the second paragraph of the requirements section of the Fourth Base, which required pharmacy owners to present the certificate of approval by the Ministry of Health and Dependency Care of the Junta de Extremadura regarding their VEC status for 2026, active until December 31, 2026. In the same vein, the Sixth Base, relating to complementary documentation, is clarified.

• The certificate or accrediting document issued by the Official College of Pharmacists of Cáceres is considered valid.
• The certificate accredits the VEC status during the year 2026.
• Beneficiary pharmacies may apply the correction index of article 2.8 of Royal Decree 823/2008, of May 16, modified by Royal Decree 997/2022.

Issuance of the certificate

The College’s certificate will be issued based on the communication made by the Extremadura Health Service to the Official College of Pharmacists of Cáceres, identifying the pharmacy offices in the province that have been recognized during 2026 as having the right to benefit from the correction index. This index refers to the margins, deductions, and discounts corresponding to the distribution and dispensing of medicines for human use.

Appeals and deadlines

The resolution exhausts all administrative remedies. An optional appeal for reversal (recurso de reposición) may be filed before the same body within one month of receiving the notification, or alternatively, a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Court of Cáceres within two months. If the appeal for reversal is chosen, the contentious route may not be pursued until the former is expressly resolved or dismissed through administrative silence.

The clarification has a direct impact on rural pharmacies in the province, whose maintenance is essential to guarantee the population’s access to pharmaceutical services in municipalities affected by depopulation and aging. By streamlining the accreditation of VEC status, the Provincial Council makes it easier for rural pharmacy offices to access these grants under a direct award regime with greater agility.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Cáceres, no. 175, September 14, 2026, Section I - Local Administration, p. 21014-21015 (official reference: BOP-2026-4267).