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SPANISH LAW

Spain’s Galicia to ban minors from drinking energy drinks

Authorities in the northwestern region of Galicia are looking to pass legislation which will fine under-18s who own or drink energy drinks between €600 and €3,000, the same penalties as for small amounts of illicit drugs. 

Published: 10 November 2023 16:23 CET
Spain’s Galicia to ban minors from drinking energy drinks
The draft law remains open to suggestions until November 28th, but Galicia’s Xunta expects the legislation to come into force in early 2024. Photo: Jorge Franganillo/Unsplash

Galicia plans to wage war on energy drinks with eye-opening legislation that will prohibit their ownership and consumption among minors. 

The Xunta regional government has presented a draft law that in effect classifies taurine-based drinks by brands such as Red Bull and Monster in the same category as alcohol, illegal for those who are under age in Spain. 

The fines the law plans to hand out to misbehaving kids and teens – or presumably their parents – will range from a minimum of €600 to €3,000, similar amounts can be given to people of all ages caught with small amounts of cocaine, cannabis or other illicit substances.

READ MORE: What are the penalties for drug possession in Spain?

However, the most serious crimes (mass sale of energy drinks to minors, for example) could see offenders receive far stiffer penalties – between €15,025 and €600,000. 

If the law is passed, vendors will have to ask customers who could be under the age of 18 for ID if they are looking to buy these drinks.

It will no longer be possible to sell them in vending machines or establishments where minors could have easy access to said beverages, nor will energy drink advertising that targets young people be permitted.

Even in bars and nightclubs in the region where minors are not allowed, 2 for 1 promotions involving bebidas energéticas will be banned.  

According to the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), the regular and excessive consumption of energy drinks can pose a health problem for consumers.

Drinking more than 200 millilitres of these drinks reportedly causes sleep disturbances in teenagers due to their high caffeine content, whilst consuming 500 millilitres can lead to psychological side effects, behavioural alterations and cardiovascular disorders.

The draft bill also looks to tighten legislation for tobacco and vaping products in the region of 2.7 million inhabitants.

The draft law remains open to suggestions until November 28th, but Galicia’s Xunta expects the legislation to come into force in early 2024.

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CRIME

Spanish court shelves Shakira tax fraud case

A court in Spain said Thursday it has shelved a probe into another alleged tax fraud by Colombian pop star Shakira, putting an end to her legal woes in the country where she once lived.

Published: 9 May 2024 13:47 CEST
Spanish court shelves Shakira tax fraud case

Prosecutors had opened the case in July, accusing her of using a network of companies, some of them based in tax havens, to cheat the tax office out of €6.6 million ($7.09 million) in 2018, including interest and adjustments. A month later, the so-called Queen of Latin Pop paid €6.6 million to settle the debt.

But on Wednesday prosecutors recommended that the probe be dropped due to “insufficient evidence” and the court investigating the case agreed.

While the court said the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer had committed “irregularities” in her 2018 tax return, it added that “irregularities are not enough to constitute a (criminal) offence against the tax authorities”.

It added that Shakira did not have “the intent to defraud the tax authorities”.

In a separate case, Shakira in November struck a last-minute settlement with prosecutors on the opening day of her trial over a separate tax fraud charge involving income she earned between 2012 and 2014.

In that case prosecutors had sought a jail sentence of over eight years for the singer. They accused her of defrauding the tax authorities of €14.5 million in a case that centred on how much time she was living in Spain.

Shakira denied the charges, saying she only moved to Spain full time in 2015.

By the time the case came to trial, she had already paid €17.45 million to settle her outstanding tax debt, prosecutors said at the time.

‘Emotional toll’

On the day it opened, that trial — which had been due to run for three weeks and hear from some 120 witnesses — was quickly concluded after she agreed to pay a fine of nearly 7.8 million euros.

At the time she explained she had settled “with the best interest of my kids at heart” because she needed “to move past the stress and emotional toll of the last several years” and focus on her career.

Shakira, 47, now lives in Miami with her two sons after splitting from Barcelona star defender Gerard Pique.

He was himself convicted of tax fraud in 2016 and ordered to pay €2.1 million in fines and arrears. Spain’s Supreme Court in 2021 annulled his conviction.

Last year, Shakira’s superstar Argentine producer Bizarrap won the Latin Grammy for song of the year with a track taking a swipe at Pique — who has since retired from football — in which she accuses him of leaving her with a “debt to the tax office”.

“People on my team tried to convince me to change the lyrics, but I’m not a UN diplomat. I am an artist and, above all, a woman,” Shakira told Spanish celebrity magazine ¡Hola!

Spain has in recent years cracked down on celebrities, including football stars such as Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, for unpaid taxes.

Both players were found guilty of evasion and received prison sentences that were waived for first-time offenders.

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