Why is it so difficult to legislate on alcohol in Spain?

Abstract

Wine belongs to the Mediterranean culture. Drinking alcohol is part of our social life, and its negative consequences have often been minimised, blame being apportioned rather to the individual, who doesn’t know how to drink, than to the agent causing the harm. In recent years, road accidents and binge-drinking among young people have put alcohol on the political agenda. Adolescents and young adults have increased their consumption, and a pattern of binge-drinking has developed based on the open-air ‘fiesta’ nightlife, where groups of young people drink large bottles in the streets and squares (botellón). Educational campaigns and material have been mounted and produced, but two consecutive draft laws on measures for the prevention of alcohol-related harm have failed to be approved, coming up on both occasions against the same vested interests. This editorial reviews the ambivalence of society towards regulations on alcohol and the current state of the art. The first draft law (2002) was about preventing alcohol problems in the general population; the second (2006) was limited to the question of prevention among minors. Nobody could oppose it, not even the industry. However, an interested bias put the accent on wine – which allegedly should be considered not as alcohol but rather as food, and consequently removed from the law – so that discussion of the draft law became a ‘wine war’, with predictable consequences. Once again, a draft law on alcohol was shelved sine die and tossed into a corner to gather dust. Within this pessimistic scene, though, there are still some positive signs. No economic or political motives should constitute an obstacle to the protection of minors, at the very least.