Health Ministry opens public consultation on decree for new pharmacies

The Department of Health (Conselleria de Sanidad) has opened the public hearing process for the draft decree of the Consell establishing the selection criteria applicable to the authorization procedures for new pharmacy offices. The announcement is published in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana (DOGV) no. 10473, dated October 19, 2026, in section V of announcements, with the official reference DOGV-C-2026-32128. The deadline for submitting contributions is 15 calendar days starting from the day following the publication.

The text was signed in Valencia on October 6, 2026, by the Director General of Pharmacy, Elena Gras Colomer, and is processed under articles 14 and 16 of Law 4/2023, of April 13, of the Generalitat, on citizen participation and the promotion of associations in the Valencian Community. The pending regulation must determine how applicants are selected when new authorizations are called, a procedure that has until now been governed by Decree 149/2011, of October 5, of the Valencian Government.

A fifteen-calendar-day process

The deadline begins on October 20, 2026, the day following the publication of the announcement, and extends for 15 calendar days, until November 3. Contributions must be submitted through the Generalitat’s participation portal, in the file identified by number 765, or via email to the address farmacia_dg@gva.es.

The documentation for the file can be consulted in that same section of the portal:

• The background of the projected regulation.
• The problems that the new regulation intends to resolve.
• The necessity and opportunity of its approval.
• The pursued objectives and possible alternative solutions.
• The full text of the draft regulation.

The framework: Law 6/1998 and pharmaceutical planning

The authorization of pharmacy offices is subject to prior administrative permission under article 5 of Law 6/1998, of June 22, on pharmaceutical regulation of the Valencian Community, and articles 16 and following of that same law establish the planning criteria to determine how many pharmacies the population needs. The competence to process and resolve the files corresponds to the Regional Secretariat of Health, according to Decree 22/2025, of February 11, of the Consell, which approves the organic and functional regulations of the Department of Health.

The announcement comes after the General Directorate of Pharmacy initiated ex officio, via a resolution dated September 2, 2026 (DOGV-C-2026-28307, published on September 25), a file to determine the number of new pharmacy offices required. This procedure was reopened following Judgment No. 119/2026, of April 21, 2026, from the Contentious-Administrative Chamber, Fourth Section, of the High Court of Justice of the Comunitat Valenciana, which annulled the resolution of May 10, 2025, from the regional secretary of Health due to the expiration of the procedure.

Reference criteria of the open file

The current planning file is based on population data and authorized offices per municipality as of March 8, 2024, and affects all municipalities and local entities smaller than a municipality with more than 250 inhabitants in the Comunitat Valenciana. The maximum deadline for resolution is six months from the day following the publication of said resolution, with dismissive effects if there is no express resolution, and it is not permissible to open pharmacies in locations that do not appear in the list approved by the Regional Secretariat of Health.

The news directly affects pharmacists aspiring to a new authorization, city councils that see the opening of establishments in their jurisdiction conditioned, and users who depend on the accessibility of the service. The decree resulting from this consultation will determine, with explicit selection criteria, who can open a pharmacy and in which municipalities; therefore, the allegations period is the last opportunity to influence the text before its approval by the Consell.

Source: Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana, no. 10473, of October 19, 2026, section V (Announcements), Department of Health (official reference: DOGV-C-2026-32128).