Spain

Emergency contraception (EC) is available in Spain: LNG EC, UPA EC, and the use of IUD for EC are included in contraception protocols; local pharmacies, and family planning clinics distribute EC. LNG and UPA EC are included in drug reimbursement policies and provided in public health facilities, in some of the country’s Autonomous Communities.

• Sexual & reproductive health background information
• Accessibility & prescription status
• Cost
• Guidelines & common practices
• EC use

Sexual & reproductive health background information

Accessibility & prescription status

In Spain, LNG EC is available behind the counter from pharmacies since September 2009; this means that EC is available without a prescription but is not on the shelves and needs to be requested in order to purchase. Since April 2015 UPA EC can also be purchased without a prescription from pharmacies and is available behind the counter.

Physicians are the sole health care professionals who are authorized to prescribe EC.

Cost

In some regions (Autonomous Communities) the cost of EC is partially or fully covered by social security when bought with a prescription in the pharmacy. It is also free to the user when accessed through the public sector. The report “Desniveles en la ruta“, published by SEDRA in June 2024,  provides detailed information about EC provision policies in all 17 regions of Spain.

Guidelines & common practices

The Spanish Society of Contraception (SEC), published in 2015 Anticoncepción de Urgencia. Guía para la provisión de servicios en Europa, which provides recommendations for LNG and UPA EC pills and the Cu-IUD. In 2019 this Society published Protocolo Anticoncepción de Urgencia, a thorough and evidence-based clinical update.

In 2016, the Spanish Society of Community and Family Pharmacies (SEFAC) published Guia de actuación para la anticoncepción de urgencia en farmacia comunitaria, a very thorough and evidence-based guide for EC pills dispensing in community pharmacies. In 2019 the Ministry of Health published Guía de Práctica Clínica de Anticoncepción Hormonal e Intrauterina, which includes an exhaustive review of EC methods, among other hormonal and intrauterine methods.

In addition, a few Autonomous Communities have their own dispensing protocols. In 2022/3, health authorities in Catalonia updated the guidance for EC dispensing in public health services: Protocol de l’anticoncepció d’urgència a Catalunya, 2022  and Novetats al Protocol de l’anticoncepció d’urgència a Catalunya.

Health care providers sometimes offer general information about EC during regular consultations but rarely prescribe EC in advance of need.

EC use

More recent data suggest an increase in EC use:  A 2018 survey sponsored by SEC⁸, found that 30% of sexually active women of ages 15 to 49, had ever used EC.  SEC’s 2019 National Survey on Sexual Health and Contraception among Spanish Youth⁹, found that 29,7% of young women (16 to 25) have ever used EC pills, with variations according to age groups: 14,4% of 16 to 18 years old have ever used EC; 19,9% of 19 to 21 years old; and 34,5% of 22 to 25 years old. On average, Spanish youth has used EC 1,49 times in their life time. When asked about reasons for EC use, 68,5% mentioned condom rupture; 22,7% misuse or non-use of regular methods; and 5,2% because having missed the pill.

Sources

¹ United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision. New York, 2011.

² Durex Global Sex Survey Results 2005. Retrieved 20 June 2013, from http://www.durex.com/en-jp/sexualwellbeingsurvey/documents/gss2005result.pdf.

³ United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division Database. Mean Age of Women at Birth of First Child by Country and Year. Updated 23 November 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2013, from http://w3.unece.org/pxweb/dialog/varval.asp?ma=04_GEFHAge1stChild_r&path=../database/STAT/30-GE/02-Families_households/&lang=1&ti=Mean+age+of+women+at+birth+of+first+child.

⁴ European health for all database (HFA-DB), World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Total fertility rate. Retrieved 18 June 2013, from http://data.euro.who.int/hfadb/.

⁵ United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Contraceptive Use 2012. New York, 2012.

⁶ Sociedad Española de Contracepción. ESTUDIO POBLACIONAL SOBRE USO Y OPINIÓN DE LA PÍLDORA POSTCOITAL 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2015, from https://sec.es/area-cientifica/observatorio/documentos-observatorio/

⁷ Sociedad Española de Contracepción. Estudio poblacional nacional sobre uso y opinión de la píldora de urgencia 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2015, from http://sec.es/area-cientifica/observatorio/documentos-observatorio/estudio-poblacional-por-comunidades/

⁸ Sociedad Española de Contracepción. Hábitos de la población femenina en relación al uso de los métodos anticonceptivos 2018. Retrived January 2020, from https://sec.es/area-cientifica/observatorio/documentos-observatorio/

⁹ Sociedad Española de Contracepción. Estudio sobre sexualidad y anticoncepción: jóvenes españoles; 2019. Retrived January 2020 from: https://sec.es/area-cientifica/observatorio/documentos-observatorio/

¹⁰ Sociedad Española de Contracepción. Encuesta “ANTICONCEPCION en ESPAÑA 2022”; 2022. Retrived October 2022 from:https://sec.es/la-sec-presenta-la-encuesta-sobre-la-anticoncepcion-en-espana-2022/   and https://www.ec-ec.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/La-SEC-presenta-la-encuesta-sobre-la-anticoncepción-en-España-2022-–-Sociedad-Española-de-Contracepción.pdf

¹¹ Sociedad Española de Contracepción. Encuesta de Anticoncepción en España 2024. Retrived October 2024 from: https://sec.es/encuesta-de-anticoncepcion-en-espana-2024/

Last update: October 2024

Previous updates: June 2024, May 2024, October 2022, November 2021, January 2021, February 2020