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SubscribeThe CNMC has filed a contentious-administrative pleading against articles 19.7 and 19.8 of Royal Decree 942/2025, which only allow the sale of self-diagnostic tests —such as pregnancy, covid-19 or flu tests— to the public through pharmacies. The CNMC considers that those measures are disproportionate and have negative effects on competition.
Hence, the CNMC argues that the restriction of sales through pharmacies reduces competition unnecessarily, as there are other types of establishments —such as parapharmacies or drugstores— that meet the same regulatory requirements to sell these products. In this regard, it notes that in other countries these tests are often sold even in supermarkets, which helps intensify competition.
Likewise, the authority considers it disproportionate to rule out the online sale of these products through marketplaces, limiting it only to the websites of pharmacies. Furthermore, the CNMC considers excessive to forbid its sale through vending machines, even within the pharmacies themselves, since it removes a useful access route for consumers, especially outside the opening hours of pharmacies.
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