[Regulatory policies on alcohol in Spain. Experience-based public health? 2008 SESPAS Report]

The present article reviews the proposal for alcohol regulation made in Spain in 2006 by the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs and dropped a few months later as adverse positions took over the debate in the political arena and the media. The background to these regulations, as well as their components, the process, and the actors involved are analyzed, and the factors leading to this outcome are discussed. A comparison is made with the tobacco regulation initiative in 2005, which resulted in a regulatory law with a highly favorable impact on public health. The actors interested in promoting alcohol consumption and opposed to any regulation have a privileged institutional presence, generating powerful resistance. Although these regulatory proposals would have marginal impacts on their trade, wine growers and wineries have been the most visible forces against regulation and have had the greatest political and media impact. Equally, manipulated messages on the health benefits of alcohol use have fed arguments against regulation. The lack of political and media consensus in this case stands in contrast with the tobacco regulation process, in which a certain political consensus had previously been reached and the smoking prevention movement had permeated the media with preventive messages, framing the issue in terms favorable for regulation. To gain ground, the sectors interested in expanding public policies for the prevention of the harm caused by alcohol need greater cohesion and organization. Professional public health organizations can substantially contribute to this field.