On 2 April 2025 the Official State Gazette published Law 1/2025 on preventing food loss and waste. It requires the whole chain, from industry to hospitality, to have a plan to avoid throwing food away.
The Official State Gazette published Law 1/2025 of 1 April on preventing food loss and waste on 2 April 2025, and it entered into force the next day. It is Spain’s first law specifically on the subject. Spain throws away more than 1 billion kilos of food a year in households alone, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
What it requires
The law sets a hierarchy of priorities: first, prevent waste; then donate surpluses fit for human consumption to food banks and social organisations; then use them for animal feed; and only at the end for other industrial uses, compost or energy. Companies in the chain, from production and industry to distribution and hospitality, must have a prevention plan and apply that hierarchy.
In hospitality, establishments must make it easy for customers to take home food they have not eaten, at no extra cost and in suitable reusable or easily recyclable containers, and must tell them they can do so. Shops above a certain size must promote the sale of ugly or imperfect produce and of food close to its use-by date.
Donations must be formalised in writing, with conditions for collection, transport and storage, and food fit for consumption may not be destroyed if someone can use it.
Deadlines and penalties
Micro-enterprises are exempt from many of the obligations, and other companies have a year, until April 2026, to adapt. The law sets minor, serious and very serious offences, with fines of up to €60,000 for serious ones and €500,000 for very serious ones, enforced by the regional governments.
What to review
If your business produces, distributes or serves food, it is worth preparing the prevention plan, measuring how much is wasted and why, signing donation agreements with social organisations and adapting front-of-house service. Besides complying with the law, cutting waste usually saves money on purchasing and waste management. Ask your adviser how to apply it to your case.
Food that is not thrown away is also money that is not lost.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
