Spain approves draft anti-tobacco law extending restrictions to vaping and outdoor spaces
Spain’s Council of Ministers has approved a draft reform that would extend tobacco controls to vaping devices, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches. The proposal also bans smoking and vaping on hospitality terraces and in numerous outdoor public spaces, but it still requires parliamentary approval.
Spain moves to broaden tobacco controls
Spain’s Council of Ministers has approved a draft reform of the country’s anti-tobacco law, setting in motion what Economist & Jurist describes as the biggest update to the national framework since the 2010 legislation. The proposal aims to address newer forms of nicotine consumption, strengthen protections for children and extend smoke-free rules beyond enclosed premises.
The measures are not yet in force. The bill must pass through the Congress of Deputies and the Senate, where amendments may change its contents. The restrictions will become enforceable only after final approval and publication in Spain’s Official State Gazette, the BOE.
Terraces and public outdoor areas face restrictions
One of the proposal’s most commercially significant provisions is a ban on smoking and vaping on hospitality terraces. Restaurants, bars and cafés would have to treat their outdoor seating areas as spaces free from tobacco smoke and aerosols from electronic cigarettes. The measure is intended to reduce passive exposure among customers and hospitality workers, including children and other vulnerable groups.
The prohibition would also cover sea and river beaches, public swimming pools, university campuses, sports facilities, open-air cultural venues, public transport shelters and other shared spaces. Smoking and vaping would additionally be barred within an approximately 15-metre perimeter around entrances to schools, hospitals, healthcare facilities, sports venues, administrative buildings and other public premises. Some Spanish autonomous communities have previously promoted similar voluntary initiatives, but the bill seeks to establish a common national standard. It also targets pollution from discarded cigarette butts on beaches and in natural areas.
New nicotine products brought under the same framework
The reform would apply most restrictions governing conventional tobacco to electronic cigarettes, heated-tobacco devices, nicotine pouches and other emerging products. This would narrow the regulatory distinction between cigarettes and newer nicotine categories in areas such as consumption, promotion and permitted locations. For manufacturers, distributors and authorised retailers, the proposal points to tighter oversight across a broader range of products rather than tobacco alone.
Advertising, sponsorship and promotion rules would also be strengthened, including activity conducted through social media, digital platforms and content creators. The draft tightens conditions for marketing tobacco and related devices, limits certain promotional practices and reinforces controls over authorised points of sale. It also seeks to curb irregular sales and improve monitoring of newer nicotine products.
Consumption by minors would become an offence
For the first time, the legislation would prohibit not only the sale or supply of tobacco and vaping products to people under 18, but also their consumption. According to Economist & Jurist, responsibility for an infringement by a minor could fall on parents or legal representatives. Penalties for minor infringements could reach €600, although the measure is presented as both preventive and educational.
The final obligations for tobacco companies, alternative-nicotine suppliers, retailers and hospitality operators will depend on the parliamentary text. The direction of the proposal is nevertheless clear: Spain intends to regulate cigarettes and newer nicotine products more consistently, reduce the number of places where they may be consumed and restrict the digital channels through which they can be promoted.
