The Government reforms viticultural potential in response to the wine crisis

The Council of Ministers approved on August 25 Royal Decree 684/2026, of August 26, which modifies Royal Decree 1338/2018, regulating viticultural production potential. The regulation, published in the Official State Gazette number 211 on Thursday, August 27, 2026 (section I, page 116896, reference BOE-A-2026-18205), enters into force the day following its publication.

The reform responds to the crisis facing the sector: wine consumption in the European Union has fallen to its lowest level in the last thirty years, while traditional export markets are becoming more unstable due to lower demand and geopolitical factors. Added to this is the increasing unpredictability of production caused by climate change, which generates an oversupply with falling prices and reduces the income of winegrowers.

A renewed European framework

The initiative is part of the wine legislative package presented by the European Commission on March 28, 2025, which incorporates the recommendations of the High-Level Group on Wine held between September and December 2024. These measures were formalized in Regulation (EU) 2026/471, of February 24, 2026, which modifies the common organization of markets and the strategic plans of the CAP.

The decree, signed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas Puchades, is issued under Law 24/2003 on Vineyards and Wine and the exclusive competence of the State regarding economic planning.

Fewer incentives to plant

The regulation introduces key changes to curb the growth of vineyard surface area and discourage plantings without assured demand:

• The end date for the planting authorization regime, which has been applied since January 1, 2016, without a predetermined term, is eliminated.
• Limitations on the issuance of authorizations no longer necessarily result in growth above 0%.
• Beneficiaries of grubbing-up payments may not request authorizations for new plantings during the ten campaigns following the grubbing-up.
• Those receiving grubbing-up aid will not be entitled to replanting authorization for the grubbed-up area.
• Holders of valid unused authorizations granted before January 1, 2025, will not be penalized for failing to execute them.

Flexibility in the face of catastrophes

To address the increased frequency of natural disasters and outbreaks of plant diseases, the autonomous communities may extend the validity of authorizations for new plantings in affected areas for up to twelve months, and winegrowers may waive them without penalty. The period of validity for replanting authorizations is also extended, and the section relating to the conversion of planting rights, whose period concluded on December 31, 2025, is removed.

The regulation also updates Annex XXI of authorized wine grape varieties and removes the exceptional rules introduced during the COVID epidemic, the effects of which have already concluded. A transitional provision grants favorable retroactive effects to authorizations in force since March 18, 2026.

The reform provides the sector with tools to rebalance supply and demand at a critical moment, giving winegrowers greater flexibility to adapt their vineyards to a declining market and a changing climate, without penalizing those who decide not to plant.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 211, August 27, 2026, Sec. I, p. 116896 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-18205).