Spain's Council of Ministers is expected to approve on Tuesday a royal decree aimed at guaranteeing healthy food in hospitals, residential care centres and nursery schools for children aged 0 to 3, covering both publicly and privately owned facilities. The rules would also apply to public libraries, universities and museums. The text is promoted by the Consumer Affairs ministry, headed by Pablo Bustinduy, who holds the portfolio of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda.
For children and adolescents the regulation goes further than for the general population: hospitals and nursery schools would be barred from serving very greasy, sugary or salty foods. Such centres would have to exclude entirely any food with a high content of fat, added sugars or salt. The document sets maximum thresholds for calories, saturated fat, sugars and salt which, in practice, rule out serving ultra-processed products.
The decree limits industrially produced dishes that require immediate thermal finishing before service, such as cooking, frying or reheating. In hospitals and residences for older people or dependent adults, these precooked dishes would be capped at three portions a month. In hospital menus aimed at minors the limit is one portion a month, the same frequency planned for nursery schools for children aged 0 to 3. Fried foods would be restricted to two portions a week in residential centres and hospitals, a limit that also extends to the 0-3 schools.
Fruit and vegetables would have to appear daily in first courses, side dishes, salads and desserts. Where three meals are served, at least three portions of vegetables and between two and three portions of fruit must be offered each day. Ninety percent of fruit and 30% of vegetables would have to be fresh and in season, and at least 10% must come from short distribution circuits, meaning local producers. A quarter of spending would have to go to organic production, a share reduced to 10% during the first four years to ease the transition.
Menus would also have to include more pulses, fish and wholegrain foods. At least two portions of fish a week must be offered as a main dish in daytime menus, alternating between white and oily fish, along with at least one weekly dish based on vegetable proteins such as pulses. For cereal-based products including bread, rice and pasta, at least 50% of the weekly offer in daily menus must be wholegrain varieties, with whole and wholegrain cereals prioritised and refined flours kept to a minimum.
Meals served in these centres must be supervised by professionals with accredited training in human nutrition and dietetics, a long-standing demand from nutritionists. The text also calls for facilities to rely on their own kitchens, at a time when many increasingly opt to order precooked food. Centres would be required to adapt meals to each age group, offer varied menus and meet users' special needs, whether for health, ethical or religious reasons. Nutritional screening would be introduced in hospitals and other centres to detect possible malnutrition.
Vending machines are another focus of the overhaul. At least 70% of the food and drink they offer would have to be healthy and displayed in the central, most visible rows. Qualifying products include fresh whole or cut fruit, fresh vegetables, nuts without added salt, fat or sugar, milk, bread, sandwiches or rolls made with vegetables, dairy products, eggs, fish or white meat from poultry and rabbit, olive oil, breads containing at least 50% wholegrain flour, fruit and vegetable juices, yoghurts and other fermented milks without added sugars, dishes based on fresh vegetables, chilled vegetable soups and creams, and plant-based drinks without added sugars. Less healthy, heavily processed products would be restricted and given less visibility. Machines selling hot drinks such as coffee would have to offer zero grams of added sugar by default, allowing a maximum of five extra grams as a voluntary option. The rules are completed by an obligation to install free drinking water fountains in these facilities, properly signposted.
Spain has very high rates of childhood overweight and obesity, close to 40%, and Bustinduy has made improving children's diets a priority for this legislative term. In 2025 his ministry approved a similar decree to increase fruit and vegetables and limit fried food and fats in primary and secondary school canteens, which the current text complements. The new decree is co-sponsored by the ministries of Agriculture, Health, Education and Childhood. By contrast, the ministry has been unable to approve limits on advertising of unhealthy food to children and adolescents because of tensions within the government. The regulation is due to take effect one year after its publication in the official state gazette, the BOE.
Sources: El País Sociedad.