In Spain there are 4,448 pharmacies in towns with less than 5,000 inhabitants, 2,128 in towns with less than a thousand inhabitants, and 1,208 in places with less than 500 inhabitantsThe rural pharmacy claims aid that guarantees its economic viability697 pharmacies are not profitable, their economic viability is compromised , and they need subsidies so as not to leave their population without assistance. It is the meeting point for the elderly in the area, the place where the news spreads, and even the internet connection point. Patricia’s pharmacy, in Jaulín, Zaragoza, serves the 254 residents registered in the area. “In the town there is only the pharmacy, a bar and a store, we are like a social center. Above all, older people live who do not have internet, and now with everything digitized it is very difficult for them. They come to me and tell me: no I know what’s wrong with my phone. And we even help them with bank procedures,” says the young woman, who is delighted to live in rural areas. The bus passes through the town three times a day, so life goes by between few streets in the municipality, and Patricia knows all her clients. She is 29 years old, and although she was working in Zaragoza capital, she liked direct assistance to patients. In fact, he lives in the same town, and says he would not change it for anything, despite the fact that “the rural pharmacy is very demanding, because many times you are the only health resource for many kilometers. With the pandemic I have had to manage to give access to medicines to people who couldn’t leave the house…”. Patricia has been running the Jaulín pharmacy for five years, and she says that at the moment she is very happy, but she understands that many throw in the towel, because “it is not financially recognized, although professionally and humanly we receive a lot.” Patricia in her rural pharmacy. NIUSSpain is the country with the most pharmacies per inhabitant in the world, with around 22,100 establishments spread throughout the country. Among all of them, the rural ones -which serve a population of nearly eight million inhabitants- are a key pillar in the Mediterranean pharmaceutical model and have been established as reference health centers for the inhabitants of many localities. There are a total of 4,448 pharmacies that serve populations of less than 5,000 inhabitants, and 2,128 in towns of less than a thousand inhabitants, and 1,208 in places with less than 500 inhabitants. 800 pharmacies at risk of disappearing According to SEFAR there are 697 pharmacies with compromised economic viability since “the remuneration model is based on a margin on the price and, that, benefits highly populated areas”, says Jaime Espolita, President of SEFAR. Pharmacies VEC means that these pharmacies are not profitable and that they need help to survive. These pharmacies receive subsidies so that they can continue providing services, but “it is not enough.” This is claimed by Raquel Martínez, General Secretary of the General Council of Official Associations of Pharmacists, who has been a rural pharmacist for almost her entire life. That is why she knows that in addition to being a health worker “you do everything, you help them with everything”. The problem is economic viability: “If there were economic sustainability, I am sure that the majority of professionals would definitely stay in rural areas because you are more than a health professional, you see that you are necessary and it has a human gratification that is not found in other jobs. What happens? That depopulation affects these pharmacies. There are municipalities in which you see that the town dies and you die with the town as a pharmacist. And in the end we end up going to another place, because we have to live”.