Rumours reach me of a clandestine pharmacy operating out of a basement in Turre, just around the corner from Don Moldenhauers pharmacy on the main square.
The story goes that the son of certain respected resident of Turre was recently granted the ownership of a pharmacy franchise in a village in the hills (Laujar de Andarax was mentioned?). Remember that pharmacies in Spain are regulated by the Guild of Pharmacists (Colegio de Farmaceuticos), and it is the guild that decides how many pharmacies per head of population are allowed.
In order to open a pharmacy in Spain, you need to pass a five year university course, then gain some experience and work your way up the ranks of the guild. Once you have enough seniority, you can (if you can prove you have a whollop of dosh ready to invest) apply for a pharmacy space, in accordance with the waiting list for that area.
So, if Daddy has a pharmacy, and wants to retire, and you are a pharmacist, you have first refusal on his pharmacy. But if you want to sell your pharmacy, you need to return your license to the guild for it to be redistributed (although I believe you can sell the premises and stock to whoever takes over the franchise).
Or, if a village grows, a new space may become available, in which case the most senior person on the list in that area gets it.
Anyway, the aforementioned son was granted a space in some godforsaken village in the hills. However, it appears that due to the low population in that area, it will take too long for him to earn enough money to buy a yacht. So, several days a week, he sells medicines, creams, ointments and other things from his Dads front room, and books them out as having gone through his shop in the hills.
His business is mainly family friends and other people who may not want the “official” pharmacist to know what particular ailments they have. He also gets hard to obtain creams and ointments and tries to be a bit more helpful than the official fellow, notorious for allowing large queues to form while gossiping with his friends.
D. Moldenhauer, the official pharmacist, comes from a large Garrucha family of doctors and pharmacists, and I believe his sister owns a pharmacy in Garrucha. His great-great grandfather was the German consul in Garrucha at the end of the 19th century, and at the beginning of the Civil War a German warship turned up in Garrucha to evacuate his family back to Nazi Germany. His father (or grandfather?) refused to leave, saying that Hitler had nothing for him.