Overview

• The Xunta approved the draft youth health law on July 28 and sent it to the Galician Parliament for final approval, with enactment slated by year-end 2025.
• The bill equates vape devices and energy drinks with tobacco and alcohol, banning their sale to under-18s and mandating separate shelving for energy drinks.
• Smoking will be prohibited within a 50-meter radius of entrances to public buildings, schools, health centers, transport stops and public swimming pools.
• Authority to sanction late-night public drinking gatherings (‘botellón’) shifts from municipalities to the Xunta to strengthen enforcement of underage alcohol controls.
• The law prioritizes prevention by allowing sanctions to be replaced with participation in support or community programs and by including measures against non-substance addictions.