As of October 23, 2026: The Government has already finished the decree that will regulate school, hospital, and residence dining halls, a norm that the Minister of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustinduy, considers closed and ready to reach the next Council of Ministers.
The minister confirmed it in a press conference and maintained that the text is finished "from the title to the final period", although formal approval is still pending and, he affirmed, will occur "as soon as possible".
The royal decree on food in hospitals, residences, nurseries, and other public spaces seeks, according to Bustinduy, "to guarantee the right to healthy eating" in the places where it matters most.
Against this idea, the minister criticized the economic operators that manage contracts, catering, and vending machines, whom he accused of benefiting from the continued poor nutrition in these services.
He also stated that the initiative has generated pressure from organized economic lobbies, although no changes to the content of the decree or its processing have been reported so far.
Hospitals, residences, and minors, at the center of the text
Bustinduy defended the need to develop healthy eating patterns in children and to ensure an adequate diet in hospitals to promote patient recovery.
In the case of residences, he stressed that the norm aims to put an end to situations of food in bad condition or even rotten, a scenario he described as a moral, social, and political scandal and which, in his opinion, is far from what elderly people deserve.
The minister also assured that it is a measure that, he believes, "99% of the population" will share, regardless of who they vote for, although the final decision still depends on its approval in the Council of Ministers.
He said that any resistance that appears along the way will be overcome by social pressure, but the decree must still go through the governmental process before coming into force.