Medicine shortages in Spain 🇪🇸 — desabastecimiento

Key facts

• As of 5 November 2026, 476 medicines have open availability reports in Spain (885 product-level reports).
• 22 new reports were filed in November 2026.
• Most common stated cause: distribution or shipping problems (43 reports).
• Longest-running open case: Surmontil, since 2016-05-05.
• Official source: AEMPS CIMA (Spain), checked daily.

885 product-level reports are open, 22 new reports were filed in November 2026. Where the register states a cause, the leading ones are distribution or shipping problems (43) out of 43 reports with a stated cause. The longest-running open case is Surmontil, reported on 2016-05-05 — about 126 months ago.

How to read this register: AEMPS (CIMA) lists supply problems per national code (pack level) and encodes the mitigation — most entries state whether same-substance equivalents exist.

How medicine shortages are managed in Spain

AEMPS records supply problems at pack (national-code) level in CIMA and encodes the mitigation for each: whether same-substance equivalents exist, whether prescribers should consider other treatments, or whether the medicine can be requested from abroad.

When nothing equivalent is authorised in Spain, AEMPS's medicamentos extranjeros route lets clinicians source a foreign-authorised version, dispensed through hospital or community pharmacy.

Spain's community pharmacies additionally run CISMED, a real-time network that detects supply incidents from pharmacy-level dispensing data — often days before an official register entry appears.

AEMPS publishes semi-annual analyses of supply problems and their causes, which is why Spanish entries tend to carry usable mitigation detail rather than bare status flags.

What to do if your medicine is affected in Spain

Most Spanish entries state whether medicines with the same active substance exist — your farmacia can dispense an equivalent in many cases. Where CIMA marks a supply problem as eligible, your doctor can request a foreign equivalent through AEMPS's medicamentos-extranjeros route. Never stop a treatment on your own — confirm any switch with your pharmacist or prescriber.

Searched locally as: desabastecimiento, problemas de suministro, medicamento agotado.

Newest reports

All affected medicines

Shortages by country

Frequently asked

How many medicines are currently in shortage in Spain?

As of 5 November 2026, 476 medicines have open availability reports in AEMPS CIMA (Spain), covering 885 product-level entries. 22 new reports were filed in November 2026.

Where does Spain publish its official shortage list?

AEMPS CIMA (Spain) — this page aggregates it daily and links every entry back to the official record. AEMPS (CIMA) lists supply problems per national code (pack level) and encodes the mitigation — most entries state whether same-substance equivalents exist.

Can a Spanish farmacia dispense a substitute during a desabastecimiento?

Often yes: most CIMA entries state whether other medicines with the same active substance and route exist, and Spanish pharmacists can dispense an equivalent in those cases. Where the entry flags the foreign-import route, your doctor requests it through AEMPS — the pharmacy then dispenses the imported pack.

Why are medicines out of stock in Spain?

The register's stated causes are led by manufacturing problems and demand surges, and Spain's comparatively low regulated prices add a structural layer: thin margins concentrate supply on few providers per substance, and stock can flow to higher-priced markets. Pack-level tracking in CIMA also makes Spain's count look granular compared with clinically-curated lists like France's.

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Newsrooms and health sites may embed the live Spain shortage count — free, with attribution:

<iframe src="https://www.mobidoctor.eu/medicine-shortages/country/es/embed.html" width="100%" height="130" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #e1e0d9;border-radius:12px" title="Medicine shortages in Spain"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px">Source: <a href="https://www.mobidoctor.eu/medicine-shortages/country/es/">Medicine shortages in Spain — European Medicine Shortage Tracker</a> by MobiDoctor</p>