Are Nicotine Pouches Legal in Spain?

By PouchGuide Editorial Team · Published September 17, 2026

Yes, currently — tobacco-free nicotine pouches are legal to buy, possess, and use in Spain as of this writing. But that current status may not last: Spain’s Ministry of Health has published a draft decree that would sharply restrict the category, and it’s worth understanding both the current rule and what’s actually being proposed, since the two are different things.

The current rule

Spain regulates tobacco products under Real Decreto 579/2017, which governs the manufacture, presentation, and sale of tobacco and related products. Like the rest of the EU (with Sweden’s historical exception), traditional tobacco-containing snus cannot legally be sold in Spain. Tobacco-free nicotine pouches, because they contain no tobacco leaf, fall outside that specific restriction and are currently sold legally at retail.

What the draft decree would change

Spain’s Ministry of Health has put forward a draft Royal Decree, part of the country’s Comprehensive Plan for Tobacco Prevention and Control 2024–2027, that would apply to vapes and nicotine pouches together. For nicotine pouches specifically, the draft proposes:

• A maximum nicotine content of 0.99mg per pouch — far below the 6–20mg range most commercial nicotine pouches actually contain.
• A ban on flavors other than tobacco flavor.
• A ban on pouches containing other stimulants (the decree specifically names caffeine and taurine).

Why 0.99mg matters

For context, even the lightest mainstream pouches in our brand directory — ZYN and On! at their lowest strength — start at 1.5mg per pouch, already above the proposed cap. The Spanish Association of Nicotine Pouches has publicly argued that a workable range would be 16–20mg, and has characterized the 0.99mg proposal as effectively eliminating the product category rather than regulating it — a characterization reported in Spanish media coverage of the industry’s response to the draft.

Is this law yet?

No. As of this writing, this is a draft decree that has been opened for public consultation — it has not entered into force, and draft regulations can change substantially (or be abandoned) between publication and adoption. Treat the 0.99mg figure as a proposal under active debate, not a rule currently in effect. If you’re in Spain and buying nicotine pouches today, the rules in place are still those under Real Decreto 579/2017, not the draft.

What this means practically

If you’re currently using nicotine pouches in Spain, nothing has changed yet — the products legally available today remain legally available under current law. But this is a regulatory situation worth watching if you’re in Spain specifically, since a decree at this stage could still be adopted, substantially revised, or dropped. See our countries where nicotine pouches are banned or restricted for how Spain’s situation compares to other markets, and our Germany snus-legality explainer for how the EU’s separate tobacco-snus ban (which doesn’t affect this Spanish proposal) works elsewhere.

Bottom line

Nicotine pouches are legal in Spain right now. A draft government decree proposes a 0.99mg nicotine cap, a flavor ban, and a stimulant-additive ban that would functionally end the category as currently sold — but it’s a proposal under public consultation, not current law. Anyone in Spain following this should treat it as an evolving situation, not a settled one.