Spain has made a swift U-turn after suggesting bars and restaurants cut back on alcohol with meals as a way of encouraging a healthier lifestyle.
Several areas erupted in anger amid claims that bars and restaurants would be banned from offering glasses of wine or beer with meals and generally to cut back on boozy offers.
It comes after the Ministry of Health announced a new strategy on Wednesday to promote fresh food in a bid to cut heart disease – the country's leading cause of death.
A row broke out after the original document provoked fury over one sentence in particular.
It suggested "collaborating with restaurant establishments to promote the Mediterranean diet as a model of heart-healthy eating, without including alcohol consumption in it."
President of the Community of Madrid Isabel Díaz Ayuso uploaded a photo of a glass of wine to her Twitter account in response prompting thousands of responses.
She wrote: "A good wine like the one that the gentlemen of the government want us ban."
Opposition councillors in regions such as La Rioja and Castilla-La Mancha also demanded a change in the final wording of the document.
Soon after, the Ministry of Health eliminated references to alcohol in the final text of the Cardiovascular Health Strategy of the National Health System.
The final document approved on Wednesday includes a paragraph that proposes collaboration "with restaurant establishments to promote the Mediterranean diet as a model of heart-healthy eating".
But it no longer includes any reference to alcoholic beverages.
Health officials said: "The strategy establishes recommendations for healthy habits and does not contemplate prohibitions of any kind.
"Therefore, it is false that drinks such as wine or beer are going to be eliminated from the menus of the day."
The Cardiovascular Health Strategy of the National Health System hopes to improve the nation's cardiovascular health and promote healthier lifestyle habits.
Its strategy includes promoting physical activity, combatting junk food, regulating food advertising and reducing the cost of healthier local ingredients.
It also encourages "regulating the presence and content of food and beverages" in cafes, vending' machines and all educational centres so that the majority offer "healthy products and alcohol-free drinks."
Julián Pérez-Villacastín, president of the Spanish Society of Cardiology, told Spanish newspaper Sur.es: "It is a project that focuses on prevention, which is fundamental, of the pandemic of heart problems."
He was reported to be in favour of limiting alcohol consumption but not prohibition.
