The Spanish Federation of Wine Producers (FEV) has asked the government to withdraw proposals to restrict alcohol adverstising on TV to between 10pm and 6am.

In an interview with the press today, Pau Roca, the president of the FEV, defended his Federation's view point and confirmed that a letter arguing their case had been delivered to the first vice-president, María Teresa Fernandez de la Vega.

Roca argued that the proposed legislation goes much further than EU rulings and is far more restrictive that laws governing alcohol advertising in many other EU countries, including Austria, Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxemburg, Malta, Rumania and the UK.

Roca also added that the new proposals go even further than the bill introduced in 2007 to prevent underage drinking, which was ultimately thrown out.

In defence of the Federation members, he pointed out that the Spanish wine industry had seen a constant drop in wine consumption over the past few decades.

'The proposed restrictions on wine advertising on TV would make it extremely difficult to increase sales by promoting responsible drinking', added Roca.