When Gauden Galea (Malta, 1960) was studying medicine at the University of Malta, he was drawn to the idea of implementing measures to improve the health of an entire population instead of focusing on a single patient. And he has dedicated the last thirty years of his career to defending and working for this idea. Today he is one of the most authoritative voices in prevention and public health at the World Health Organization (WHO), from where he has led the fight against chronic non-communicable diseases on a global scale. Furthermore, he has been a key figure in responding to international health crises, such as during the covid pandemic.

In one out of every three sexual assaults in Spain, the victim has been drugged. Now, a group of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) has taken an important step towards developing a tool that will easily detect if someone has slipped drugs into a drink in the near future.

That Carlos Mazón labeled as "Save meThe questions about the private room and the bill at the El Ventorro restaurant, where he ate and chatted with journalist Maribel Vilaplana on the day of the DANA storm, are despicable.

Wine faces major challenges ahead. Added to the challenge posed by climate change for grape cultivation is the decline in wine consumption. While some indicators suggest that Spain is one of the few countries left out of this global trend, the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) has estimated that global consumption will fall to 214.2 million hectoliters in 2024, 3.3% less than the previous year. This figure represents the 9% decline in the 19th century, and the Catalan Institute of Vine and Wine (Incavi) wants to reverse this trend.

Whether by necessity or by will, the fact is that not drinking alcohol is starting to cease to be a rare elderly, as some of the best restaurants in Spain confirm. There are establishments that aren't convinced about offering commercial zero-calorie juices, soft drinks, or wines as an alternative to alcohol. The high amounts of sugar or additives these drinks contain can conflict with haute cuisine, where everything is measured to the millimeter.

"I'm precisely the kind of nice, upper-middle-class white girl whose relationship with substances has been treated as benign or pitiable, a cause for concern, or a shrug, rather than a punishment." I read this from Leslie Jamison a while back. She wrote it in Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath, a memoir on alcohol addiction that has been translated into Spanish (The imprint of the days, Anagrama). I recognized myself, despite the differences: I've never been accused of having a painful, violent relationship with alcohol. Something in me has saved me. Perhaps it has to do with the gesture, the posture. The family they think I come from. The very white skin. The relative public exposure.

Although sitting on a terrace and drinking an ice-cold beer seems like an ideal way to cope with the stifling summer heat, it can actually be "counterproductive" if not done in moderation. This is the opinion of Emilio Salgado, the physician in charge of the Clinical Toxicology Unit at the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona. In fact, he recommends avoiding alcohol consumption when exposed to high temperatures.

Barcelona wants to change the way alcohol is perceived and accessed in the city to "denormalize" its consumption and reduce the opportunities for access. This is the main line of action of the new Action Plan on Drugs and Addictions 2025-2028, a document that incorporates a gender perspective for the first time since the first program was launched in 1987. "Alcohol continues to be the most consumed psychoactive substance in the Catalan capital and is the main reason for starting treatment, both in men and women," said Marta Villanueva, Councilor for Health at Barcelona City Council, during the presentation of the plan.

The other day, The ARA editorial spoke of a very serious problem: Catalonia leads—in other respects, no—world drug consumption. We read: "What has become of the "No to drugs" of a few decades ago? Is there a certain frivolity when talking about it? Tobacco is fortunately stigmatized, and alcohol increasingly so. Regarding the abuse of anti-anxiety drugs (here too, we are world leaders in consumption), associated with a hard and marginal drug addiction, it is on the decline. On the other hand, cocaine, linked to glamorous success (economic, artistic), far from creating social alarm, circulates with impunity."

Spain is the country with the cheapest alcohol in the eurozone and the fifth with the lowest prices in the entire European Union. Excessive alcohol consumption carries the risk of developing a wide range of diseases, such as cancer of the pharynx, larynx, liver, esophagus, oral cavity, and especially colon and rectal cancer in men, and breast cancer in women, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Therefore, the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) advocates that taxes on alcoholic beverages should be tightened to mitigate their impact on health and also reduce healthcare spending. It estimates that, in Spain, if the price of cheaper beverages, such as wine and beer, increases by between 40% and 130%, there would be "a direct and significant effect" on the reduction of liver disease.

"Why not pair bravas with a sparkling wine by the glass? It goes wonderfully with a potato omelet!" says Laura Roca, the driving force behind La Baula, an initiative that seeks to increase the Catalan wine offering in bars and restaurants. Catalonia is predominantly a wine-producing region, but the presence of its wines and sparkling wines on the menus of restaurants doesn't always do it justice. It can become even more noticeable when you go out with the desire to have a glass of wine, without intending to drink the whole bottle. Verdejo White or black Rioja are still offered by the glass in many establishments, while, for example, ordering a glass of Catalan cava as Roca suggests is not always possible.

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved sending to Congress the bill on the prevention of alcohol consumption and its effects on minors. The text, which will now have to receive the approval of a majority of the parliamentary groups in the Lower House, imposes a series of restrictions with the aim of delaying the age of initiation of alcohol consumption – the average is 14 years – and reducing episodes of intensive consumption among young people. According to the latest state survey on drug use in secondary education, 56% of minors between 14 and 18 years had consumed alcohol in the last month and a third had drunk more than five drinks in less than two hours. The Minister of Health, Mónica García, welcomed the publication of a "pioneering" and "comprehensive" legislation to address this "worrying" situation. At a press conference, García said that she hoped that the parliamentary process would be simple so that the law would be inspired by recommendations included in a report by Congress and the Senate approved unanimously.

"Alcoholic beverages are the only product in the European Union that does not bear a label specifying its composition," said Florence Berteletti, secretary general of Eurocare, a European alliance of more than fifty entities – many of them scientific – that aims to promote alcohol policies that protect citizens of the European Union. "A small cheese producer in a remote village in Spain or France meets this requirement. Why don't alcohol producers?" insists Berteletti. And it is true. The label on a simple bottle of water contains more information than that on a bottle of whisky.

Eva Tenorio Álvarez, 47, says that she only drank with friends, at social events, when she went out to party… She didn't do it every day and she didn't have alcohol at home either. In fact, her acquaintances didn't consider her to be an alcoholic, but rather a drunkard.

This Sunday, in the dossier, we focus on what is known as functional alcoholism, that is, what affects people who, at first glance, have a normal life but are dependent on alcohol that affects their daily functioning, although sometimes it is difficult to identify the origin of the symptoms. We have spoken with addicts and experts to put a face and voice to a problem that affects many more people than we think. Maybe you are an alcoholic and you don't know it, or maybe someone close to you is. We must break the taboo and start talking about it openly.

Actress Anne Hathaway, 41, claims to be in one of the best moments of her life. The interpreter is in full promotion of the film The idea of having you (Amazon), in which she plays a 40-year-old mother who begins a relationship with the 24-year-old singer of her daughter's favorite group, and in the interviews she has given she has taken the opportunity to reflect on age and some of the things you have learned in the last few years. One of the revelations he has made is that he has not drunk a drop of alcohol for five years.