Traveler's Permit for Prescriptions

FYI
https://gogoespana.com/en/blog/how-to-bring-medication-to-spain/#:~:text=Inquiries%20can%20be%20sent%20to,number%2C%20and%20date%20of%20birth.

Thank you for the information!

There îș a minuscule chance that anyone will look at your medicines upon entry to Spain.
it is very rare that you will even be stopped for a customs inspection.

I travel a few times a year to Spain, from the US, and I take a controlled medication. Not once has any official either noticed, or inspected, my medications, and I have never had any additional permit such as you describe.

Few travelers from the US will be flagged for inspection by customs. After dozens of visits over many decades, I was flagged for the first time, two weeks ago, upon arrival in Seville. (Probably because I had multiple Spanish entry stamps in my passport--this was my third visit in the past year).
My luggage was put through a scanner; the inspectors neither looked at, or asked me about, my medications.

If it makes you more secure, take that paperwork but do not worry about bringing personal amounts of prescription drugs into Spain.. Authorities are far less bothered by obvious tourists than they are by travelers who spark their attention as possible smugglers of contraband.

Thanks for your reply. I came across an article that covered new changes for 2025 entry and it listed this requirement. To my detriment, I’m a rule follower and would probably be the only person ever checked if I didn’t comply.

No one mentions which "controlled substance" we are referring to here. Saying so because several common drugs that might be prescribed in the US are over-the-counter in Europe.

Good point, Enric!!

But there is almost no chance that you will get pulled aside by customs, and even if you do, it is highly unlikely that anyone is going to prowl through your medicines. And as Entice says, it's possible that your medication is available over the counter in Spain!! But I do get it...I worry about all sorts of things happening when I travel!

I really appreciate the insight. Tramadol, an opiate, is the medication. If they were to look, it might not stand out since it doesn't start with Oxy.

It’s not Spain, but I arrived in Australia yesterday and took my prescriptions in their original bottles because I had heard from various sources that they were very strict about that. Going through immigration and customs I was asked if I had any prescriptions and were they in their original bottles showing a doctor prescribed them. I said yes and they waved me through. They never asked to see them. When I settled into my lodging a decanted them into pill baggies and threw the bottles away so I don’t have to carry all of that bulk around for 4 weeks. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

But there is almost no chance that you will get pulled aside by customs

Well, by that logic, I have not been asked by the police for my drivers license in nearly 20 years, why am I going to the hassle to renew it?

Well put Paul.

Tramadol is prescribed here by doctors, so no over-the-counter option I am afraid.

If you want to travel to Spain with Tramadol, simply attach a copy of the prescription from your doctor. Generally, up to 30 days’ worth is allowed for personal use. Carry it in your carry-on luggage, not checked luggage.

Alternatively, you can also bring the prescription from your doctor and buy it in a local pharmacy -far cheaper than in the US, btw. For a generic brand, 50mg 60 tablets is under 10€ (for the whole, not each one!)

The prescription has to contain at least the following information:

• Patient details: surname and first name (both written in full), and date of birth
• Date of issue of the prescription
• Details of the prescribing doctor: surname and first name (written in full), professional qualification, direct contact details, work address (including the country), and signature
• Details of the prescribed product: its common name (rather than the brand name, which may be different in another country), format (tablet, solution, etc.), quantity, strength and dosage.

Sometimes, the pharmacy might not accept a foreign prescription—obviously, they're not obligated to as your prescription is not from the Spanish Health System or any other EU country (there are reciprocity agreements in place).

No problem, just go to any Primary Health Center (called CAP here) and present your prescription to the doctor, he/she can issue a local prescription for you. For Europeans, there's no cost for this visit, I believe nor for visitors from the rest of the world (but I am not 100% sure).

CAPs are centers managed by the Public Health Service authority, and except for very small towns, you'll find plenty of them everywhere. In major cities, there is at least one per neighbourhood -or more.

PS: While is true that you are very unlikely to be "pulled aside" at the airport, this is not to say you definitively won't, so it's prudent to be covered by bringing your prescription with you.

Enric, so the Permiso de Viajeros isnt required, just the prescription?

A little off topic or maybe a continuation of the topic:

Many countries will advise you to bring a letter from the doctor and the medicine in the original packaging. I cannot speak for any place other than where i live in Europe. I dont have any of my prescriptions. They get confiscated by the pharmacy. I do have a letter from the doctor detailing the medication I take. I am given that each time I visit the doctor. It has two very official looking stamps on it and the doctor’s signature. That may explain why the prescription is not requested, but the letter is.

For those that havent ever purchased prescription medicine in Europe the context of the original packaging gets lost on them. In the US a pharmacist counts out pills and puts them in a bottle and places a label on the bottle. That label has the patient’s name and the name of the doctor and the instructions for taking the medication. Its almost proof of a prescription.

But in the US, one could pour out one medicine and replace it with another medicine and there would be no evidence. In Europe everything comes in blister packs in a paper box. The blister packs identify the drug. This is I presume why the original packaging is a big deal here and why bottles of pills from the US might get a few looks if you ever did get stopped. And why I think everything that can be done properly and correctly should be done so, to head off any issue rising from the packaging.

I think its great that in Spain a doctor will see a tourist for free and write a prescription. But dont count on that everywhere. Here it will cost you maybe 50 euro at a private clinic to see a doctor (who will "probably" write the prescription). Then most meds are less expensive here. Some a little, some a lot less. Some only in different dosses requiring a pill cutter or more pills. And some meds just are not available here at all, but you can get delivered from another EU country for a fee in about a week. Then a few meds are not available anywhere in the EU.

“ Enric, so the Permiso de Viajeros isnt required, just the prescription?”

I guess I can be the first to jump through this hoop and I’ll let you all know how it turns out.
I really appreciate everyone’s input!

I would do it. Costs nothing.

Mom: I'll be curious about your experience!! I guess I've jumped through the hoop already..I'm now in Spain for my third trip within this past year.

I carry medication in the same class as yours. It's in the original US prescription bottle but no one has ever looked. For the first time in dozens of trips, I was pulled over two weeks ago for customs inspection upon arriving in Sevilla airport. (That's probably because my multiple entries into Spain are stamps in my passport. Or maybe I look sketchy!!)
My bags were put through another scanner, and after about a minute, I was on my way. The agents did not look at any of the bottles in the zip-loc bag where I carried my medications. They looked at nothing, just ran the check-in bag through the machine.

That's just one instance and I respect you for following the rules. But above all, do not be anxious. Even if you do not have the paperwork and only the original bottle of Tramadol, I would take a big bet that you will not be questioned.

ekscrunchy, I agree with you more or less. I have entered Europe no less than 50 times and no one has ever looked at my prescriptions. But the moment I say not to worry, that person will get checked and I don't want to be responsible for trashing their holiday when following the law is so easy.

You are certainly not wrong on that! One time in ten million and then we would be to blame! Or me!!

It would be interesting to hear from someone whose medication actually did get looked at when entering Spain, or any European country. I do remember entering Japan many, many years ago, and having a bottle of an over-the-counter medicine called "Afrin," taken away from me. It was some kind of nasal decongestant spray that, I learned then, was illegal in Japan. But I was much younger and might have looked like a hippie backpacker, even though I was neither of those things!! And now I'm even giving away my age here!!

ekscrunchy and Mr E, I certainly wouldn't blame anyone either way. I appreciate each of your perspectives on the issue. I was hoping someone had applied for the permit to enter with restricted medications. Had I not researched, I would have never known about the requirement.
Many thanks to everyone for the responses.

“ Enric, so the Permiso de Viajeros isn't required, just the prescription?”

Yes there's indeed this thing called "permiso" issued by the Spanish consulates around the world to be permitted to bring narcotic and/or psychotropic medication into the country... BUT, honestly, I've never ever have come across anyone visiting that has been asked for such. I would imagine it depends on the amount of drug carried as well as the length of stay in the country.

Still, again, TO MY (practical) KNOWLEDGE, a doctor's prescription with the information mentioned earlier -which should include the reason why you're taking it- should suffice. And that's only in the event you're being asked to justify your bringing Tramadol with you, which, as mentioned by others, rarely happens. After all, Tramadol is a very common drug sold in our pharmacies too, so it's not like say if you were carrying cocaine!

Yet, if any of you is adamant to have this "permiso" issued, here you have some info: https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/santiagodechile/es/Comunicacion/Noticias/Paginas/Articulos/20220512_NOT.aspx -this link applies to Chile, but it's the same for the rest of the non-EU countries, so I'll apply the same to you (USA)