Spain Advances Holistic Health and Mental Wellbeing with New Integrative and Youth Mental Health Initiatives
Spain advances integrative health and youth mental health through expert-led wellness approaches and the launch of EstarB, a comprehensive mental health service for young people in Barcelona.
- • Miriam Moral emphasizes practical lifestyle habits for quality of life over longevity, advocating digital detox and community engagement.
- • Spain invests least in corporate wellbeing, needing focus on environmental health impacts like dirty electricity.
- • EstarB is a new mental health service in Barcelona for youth aged 12-25, increasing support hours and integrating psychology and education professionals.
- • EstarB consolidates 21 youth support points and aligns with municipal strategies against loneliness and mental health plans for 2023-2030.
Key details
Spain is making significant strides in integrative health and mental wellbeing initiatives in 2025, targeting both broad healthspan improvements and youth mental health support.
Miriam Moral, a pioneer in integrative medicine and certified civil engineer, underscores a practical, holistic approach to wellness that prioritizes quality of life over mere longevity. Since 2018, she has collaborated with experts like oncologist José Baselga to promote home hospitalization units, high-performance wellness residences, and health-focused clinic-hotel projects. Moral defines wellness as daily life-enhancing habits such as sunlight exposure, walking, quality sleep, good nutrition, maintaining circadian rhythms, social connections, and nature engagement. She cautions against superficial wellness trends and overconsumption of supplements without professional advice. Moral critiques Spain’s low investment in corporate wellbeing programs, calling for greater attention to environmental factors like air quality and the impact of "dirty electricity." She stresses digital detoxification and community life to reduce loneliness and improve mental health (Source 107441).
In Barcelona, the municipal government launched EstarB, a new mental health service dedicated to young people aged 12 to 25. EstarB will operate across three locations in the Sant Martí district, expanding weekly individual support hours from 213 to 304. It integrates psychological and educational professionals, including 12 social educators and 12 psychologists, alongside representatives from Child and Youth Mental Health Centers. This initiative consolidates 21 existing youth support points and aims to enhance emotional distress prevention, early detection, and intervention among adolescents and young adults. Starting January 2026, EstarB will incorporate community emotional wellbeing representatives from primary care to facilitate health system connections when needed. The project aligns with Barcelona's broader strategy against loneliness and its mental health policy for 2023-2030. Adult psychological support services remain unchanged (Source 107446).
Together, these initiatives illustrate Spain's growing commitment to a comprehensive, integrative model of health that embraces both physical wellness and mental health, particularly among its younger populations. They point to a future where lifestyle habits, environmental awareness, professional guidance, and community support are central pillars in fostering wellbeing.
This article was synthesized and translated from native language sources to provide English-speaking readers with local perspectives.