Almost half of Spanish young people between 14 and 18 years old have tried vaping, according to the ESTUDES 2025 Survey. The case of Daniel Martín, a boy from Granada who started vaping when he was 14 years old and at 18 was already diagnosed with pulmonary edema and chronic asthma, has put a face to this statistic. The lawyer
“This is not an isolated case, this is happening in Spain every day,” warns Abat. “Young kids, minors, buying vapes with brutal ease, all without ID, they go there, they get it, as if nothing was happening.”
The law prohibits it and the sanctions exist, but they are not applied
Spanish regulations equate vapers with tobacco for all purposes. The sale of any vaping product to minors under 18 years of age is prohibited, and any establishment that does so is exposed to serious administrative infractions. Specialized vape and tobacco shops are prohibited from entering minors and sell only regulated products. However, it is in bazaars and online marketplaces where these easily accessible products are found, which cause so much damage to health and also prevent the corresponding taxes from being collected for the State coffers.
“The establishment that sells to a minor faces and should face a serious administrative violation,” the lawyer says. “We are talking about significant fines, tens of thousands of euros, that are not applied, that are not pursued, and the tolerance that exists right now in Spain is incredible,” adds Abat about these establishments and marketplaces that sell without control.
Law 6/2025, of December 23, on the protection of the health of minors and prevention of addictive behaviors (can be consulted in this BOE) has tightened this sanctioning framework. Serious violations, which include the sale of tobacco and vaping devices to minors, carry penalties of between 601 and 10,000 euros. Since March 2026, Galicia has already applied fines of up to 3,005 euros for selling these products to a minor, becoming the first autonomous community to activate the new sanctioning regime.
Misleading advertising in bazaars and marketplaces
Beyond the illegal sale, Abat opens another front that it considers equally serious: the message that these fraudulent companies have built for years around vaping. “For years it has been sold that vaping is something light, as something that does not get addictive, as a harmless alternative,” recalls the lawyer. And he points to the consequences if that story covers up a different reality: “If it is saying or insinuating that it does not have nicotine, when it does, or that it does not generate addiction with those strawberry flavors or various ones that exist, we are in false advertising and it also has legal consequences.”
The vaper as a device for tobacco cessation is supported by the Ministries of Health of countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States or France. The problem arises when these devices are sold outside of regulated channels, where their components can pose a health risk. Therefore, it is key to reinforce strict and effective regulation.
“We have minors hooked on devices that generate dependency, that affect their health and that is also totally normalized,” says Abat. “I’m tired of seeing him every day, everywhere, in parks, in bars, in restaurants, smoking without control, without fear and thinking that nothing happens here.”
The data from the ESTUDES 2025 Survey supports this perception, since nearly a third of young people between 14 and 18 years old have used a vape pen in the last month, purchased mostly in unregulated establishments. EVALI, the lung injury associated with vaping, has already accumulated documented cases in Spain, and recent studies suggest that vaping increases the risk of developing COPD by 129%.
The lawyer directly questions bazaar and marketplace sellers who do not comply with the regulations: “To those of you who sell vapers, why don’t you comply with the law? Why don’t you get inspected? I hope your hair falls out and I hope you are responsible and ask for your DNI, since you sell this shit.”