Spain proposes national medicine reserve and updates drug pricing

Spain is moving toward strengthening its healthcare strategic autonomy through the proposed creation of a national reserve of essential medicines and medical products to manage extraordinary scenarios. A resolution from the Joint Commission for Relations with the Court of Auditors, published in the Official State Gazette, urges the government and the Ministry of Health to develop actions to reinforce healthcare autonomy and improve the interoperability of information systems to better track hospital beds, doctors, and nursing staff.

While the resolution calls for this reserve, it does not yet establish the specific size, the list of included medications, minimum inventory levels, or the administration mechanism. The current scope remains a parliamentary recommendation to the government.

In a separate regulatory move, the Ministry of Health has updated the reference pricing system for medicines within the National Health System for 2026. This update includes the creation of 26 new reference sets—15 for pharmacy-dispensed prescription drugs and 11 for hospital use—aimed at controlling pharmaceutical spending and ensuring the economic sustainability of the healthcare system. The measure also includes price revisions and the suppression of sets that no longer meet regulatory requirements.