If there is one thing we hate it is visitors being tricked in Gran Canaria. In the past we've warned about overcharging at Gran Canaria chemists, and rip off electronics shops in resorts. 

In this Tip Of The Day we return to the island's chemists or rather, to the island's fake chemists.

A chemist in Gran Canaria is called a Farmacia and always has a green cross sign. Farmacias are the only place tobuy medicine in Spain, even basics like paracetamol.

However, there is another kind of shop in Gran Canaria that looks and sounds like a chemist but doesn't sell medicine. This is the Parafarmacia and it also uses a green cross sign.

A parafarmacia is a herbal medicine shop that is not allowed to sell any normal medicine such as paracetamol, ibuprofen or antibiotics. 

Instead, parafarmacias sell herbal alternatives to medicine but don't have to prove that they work and they can charge whatever they want.

We recently heard from a visitor to Gran Canaria who went into a parafarmacia and was charged 40 euros for a herbal alternative to Ibuprofen. It was only when they read the label that they realised what had happened. 

To locate a genuine farmacia, see this website and search within your municipio (Puerto Rico is in Mogán, Playa del Inglés is in San Bartolomé de Tirajana). At weekends and on fiesta days many farmacias close but there is always one open, known as the farmacia de guardia, in each municipio.

Search for the nearest one to you with this tool

Lex Says: To keep costs down, see this article for the way to ask for generic medicine rather than expensive branded alternatives. 

Published in Tip of the day

Join the Gran Canaria Info newsletter list

endanlfifrdeisitnoplptruessv

 

 

Follow us on Facebook

Tip of the day

  • The Best Gran Canaria Weather Forecast
    The Best Gran Canaria Weather Forecast

    The single most common question we get in the Gran Canaria Info group is...

    What is the weather going to be like during my holiday?

    The answer is almost always the same: If you are going to south Gran Canaria's resorts, it is very likely to be sunny every day. Yes, even in the winter. Yes, even though your weather app says it is going to be cloudy. Yes, even in January. And in February, etc.

    Obviously it does sometimes rain in Gran Canaria, even in the sun-baked south, and there are occassional cloudy days. 

    To check for these rare rain and clouds there is no point using generic weather apps because they use data that averages out the weather and temperature across Gran Canaria.

    This means that the forecast for Puerto Rico and other resorts includes weather and temperatrure predictions for inland and highland areas that are cooler and cloudier.

    So, instead of believing your current weather app use the Spanish weather service website called the AEMET. It's website has detailed and very accurate forecasts for individual resorts, town and even beaches.

    Here's the forecast for the Mogán area including Puerto Rico.

    The mobile website works very well in English although the app is only in Spanish at the moment.  

Latest articles

Who's Online

We have 3864 guests and no members online

Login / Register

Take this website to the max, login or create an account now! By clicking on any Social Media platform logo, you can login with just one click.