Market & regulatory data for the vapour sector in Spain

9th April 2024: Spain: The Ministry of Health has launched a public consultation on an amendment to decree 579/2017, which regulates e-cigarettes and tobacco products. It aims to address various aspects of the regulations – including ingredients, packaging, and exposure to vaping products – and to regulate nicotine-free e-cigs. The amendment is expected to introduce neutral packaging. Ideas and proposals can be sent to consultapublicatabaquismo@sanidad.gob.es until 23rd April.
5th April 2024: Spain: Today the Ministry of Health will approve the Integral Plan for Smoking Prevention (PIT) 2024-2027, press reports. The final draft, which has not been made public yet, has incorporated 94% of the amendment proposals submitted by the autonomous regions. Among the rejected submissions were proposals aiming to treat vaping products as smoking prevention tools and to prohibit vaping in certain private places, such as cars. However, the list of public places where vaping is prohibited will be extended. The PIT is also expected to introduce a tax on vaping products.
12th March 2024: Spain: Minister of health Mónica García will present the Integral Plan for Smoking Prevention (PIT) 2024-2027 on Thursday (14th March) in front of the Public Health Commission, press reports. The plan, as it has been advanced, will impose a tax on e-cigarettes, which are currently only subject to VAT. The PIT also aims to further restrict vaping in public places.
6th March 2024: Spain: The anti-smoking organisation Nofumadores.org (non-smokers.org) has urged the government to ban disposable e-cigarettes, press reports. The organisation claims they are easily accessible to children, as they are being sold in grocery stores and pharmacies alongside other products that target youth. The organisation also reports that 23% of girls and 19% of boys aged 12 to 14 have used e-cigarettes in the last 12 months.
5th March 2024: Spain: Left-wing party Sumar, which forms part of the coalition government, has submitted a proposal asking the Ministry of Health to equate e-cigarettes – regardless of their nicotine content – with tobacco products, press reports. Currently, only nicotine-containing e-cigarettes are regulated, meaning that those without nicotine can be accessed by under-18s without any restrictions. Sumar proposes subjecting all e-cigs to specific retail licences and banning their sale through vending machines that do not have an age-verification system.
29th January 2024: Spain: Minister of health Mónica García announced on Friday (26th January) in the Chamber of Deputies (lower chamber of parliament) that a bill amending the tobacco legal framework to impose further restrictions on vaping products will be introduced in the coming months, press reports. No specific details of the bill's content have been revealed. However, the bill is expected to further restrict vaping in public places and impose more requirements on vaping products, such as neutral packaging.
12th December 2023: Spain: The Ministry of Health is aiming to further regulate electronic cigarettes and establish tougher restrictions on vaping in public places, press reports. The new regulations could also impose restrictions on the sale of nicotine-free vaping products, which are currently not regulated. Health minister Mónica García said the ministry will implement the Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025, which was drafted during the previous legislative term and whose recommendations and measures have not been implemented yet.
29th November 2023: Spain: The president of the southern region of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno, has announced that the sale of vaping products to minors, regardless of their nicotine content, will be prohibited in the region in 2024, press reports. While the sale of nicotine vaping products to under-18s is already prohibited at state level, no restrictions apply to the sale of nicotine-free e-cigarettes, whose use among teenagers is on the rise in the country. The measure will be implemented within the framework of a comprehensive plan aimed at tackling addictions.
17th November 2023: Spain: Yesterday (16th November), the Spanish parliament elected Pedro Sánchez as prime minister by absolute majority, press reports. After several months of negotiations following elections that took place in July 2023, the Socialist Party (PSOE) has formed a coalition government with the left-wing party Sumar and the support of all Spanish parliamentary parties, with the exception of the right-wing parties – the People’s Party (PP), Vox and the Navarre regionalist party (UPN). The continuation of the current ruling government may result in heavy restrictions for e-cigarettes, as the government had indicated in previous months its intentions to strengthen the regulatory framework for tobacco and e-cigarettes. PSOE also included the regulation of e-cigarettes in its election manifesto.
22nd September 2023: Spain: The Ministry of Health has launched a campaign warning against smoking and vaping. The campaign is titled "Why do you smoke?" and it claims that "smoking is bad whatever you smoke". The campaign statement warns about the rise in the use of vaping products, especially disposable ones, among young people due to their modern format and flavours, and the campaign's video shows people vaping.
24th July 2023: Spain: Despite most polls predicting an absolute majority for right-wing parties following yesterday's legislative elections, surprising results mean that it is possible that the incumbent government maintains power for the next four years, which would likely bring heavy restrictions for e-cigarettes. Nevertheless, due to the fragmentation of the parliament, it is likely that there will be another round of elections.

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