The future of the European countryside faces challenges that hamper food sovereignty such as declining yields and shifts in consumer preferences and environmental degradation. Spain is getting ahead in the race toward food security by enacting two transformative legal frameworks: the National Food Strategy and the Law Against Food Waste. Spain is already ranked as the fourth largest food exporter in the European Union and the seventh worldwide. These frameworks will further strengthen Spain´s position as a global food-power and as a country committed to sustainability.
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Picture 1: Spain is the largest olive oil producer in the world. Image of extra virgin olive oil by Microsoft Office.
Legal frameworks will enhance sustainability and affordability
Together, these two legal frameworks provide a roadmap to elevate the sector’s role by enhancing quality, affordability, and sustainability. The first one, the Law Against Food Waste directly tackles inefficiencies across the food value chain. With approximately 1.36 million tons of food wasted each year, the law mandates that all actors from producers to retailers establish prevention plans, prioritize food donations, and adopt circular practices. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) highlights this law as a cornerstone for environmental protection, ethical consumption, and economic efficiency.
The second framework, the National Food Strategy (NFS), seeks to ensure food availability and stability for the entire population. The NFS covers the entire value chain to guarantee affordable prices and greater yields in food production. It signalizes the importance of protecting natural resources and supporting producers to strengthen the rural economy. The NFS seeks to ensure that the sovereignty Spain is not affected by depending on the food production of other countries. President Pedro Sánchez has emphasized that the strategy aligns with Europe’s priority of “open strategic autonomy”. The NFS proposes a roadmap to shape the way Spanish people produce, purchase and consume food by focusing o three pillars.
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Picture 2: local goods at affordable prices for consumers and producers. Image from Microsoft Office.
Key pillars of the National Food Strategy
The NFS is structured around strategic pillars that can be summed as follows:
- Ensuring availability and stability of food supplies for the entire population in order to create a sustainable food system, that protects the environment whilst supporting producers. This in turn will help raise the income potential for farmers.
- Safeguarding cultural and nutritional identity by promoting the Mediterranean diet—rich in fresh vegetables, olive oil, fish, and wine. As it is, Spain already leads production in olive oil and wine production in the world. Interestingly, the NFS document itself resembles a cookbook, designed to inspire the reader
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Encouraging efficient production and social innovation. To this end, lowering cost and increasing innovation is vital. It is also important to change social paradigms by promoting professionalization in the sector and strengthening the role of women and younger generations in the food value chain.
Together, the Law Against Waste and the NFS reinforce the need to modernize the agri-food industry and protect its sovereignty. In doing so, it reinforces the idea that healthy eating not only benefits the population but increases demand for quality local products whilst simultaneously reducing waste. The combined impact of legislation and strategic planning is expected to increase sector-wide efficiency and improve Spain’s resilience and competitiveness in global markets.
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Picture 3: Mediterranean diet based on vegetables and olive oil, Image from Microsoft Office
Sustainable trading partners become more important
From an international perspective, valuable opportunities arise for trade partners like the Netherlands. The new legal frameworks bring Spain and the Netherland closer together in their aim to produce sustainable with high quality standards. The new Spanish food roadmap creates space for partnerships in agri-tech, sustainable agriculture, low carbon freight, and green investment. Ultimately, this will contribute to a sovereign European food market.
Source: Law 1/2025 of 1 April on the prevention of food losses and food waste (in Spanish) / English executive summary of Spanish National Food Strategy