SOCIETIES

Societies

There is one official coeliacs society for each region of Spain. All of them, except for one of the Coeliacs Association of Madrid: Coeliacs and Gluten Sensitives of Madrid and the Catalonian Association (SMAP), are part of the Spanish Federation of Coeliacs Associations (FACE).

FACE publishes the list of the addresses, web sites and emails of all its member societies:

                   Regional coeliac/celiac disease societies members of FACE

  

Quality Label

FACE launched several years ago the Controlado por FACE (Controlled by FACE) Quality Label. It ensures the consumers that products bearing the seal have less than 10 ppm (mg/kg) of gluten. Most of gluten-free products made especially for coeliacs/celiacs (cereals, bread, flour, pasta, etc.) show this label. They are totally safe. You can find them in hypermarkets, supermarkets, herbalist and some pharmacies.

Lists of Products

For the rest of the products which do not bear Controlado por FACE seal but are also safe for coeliacs/celiacs, there are different lists of products:

On paper:

FACE publishes a product listing of foods that are “safe for coeliacs”. It contains gluten-free products listed by manufacturer. It is put together using information provided by the manufacturers themselves and takes into account current product-safety regulations, manufacturing processes, and an evaluation of the ingredients listing for products sold in Spain. You must become a member of one of the associations of FACE or to contact FACE to order a copy (not for free), sending an e-mail to info@celiacos.org or calling at +34 91 547 54 11.

Chiquilista is another FACE list but only with babies and children food. You can order one copy sending an e-mail to info@celiacos.org or calling at +34 91 547 54 11.

The Catalonian Coeliacs Association (SMAP) also publishes a list of products. You need to be a member to order one copy.

On your smartphone:

There are at least three mobile applications which contain the lists of products and other information about hotels, shops and restaurants where you can find gluten-free food:

• mobiCeliac is the Coeliacs Association of Madrid (ACM) application for Apple, Android and BlackBerry. You can look up the products in a browser or scanning the bar code of the product. The gluten free businesses can be located on the map. It is a payment service, so you need to contact ACM calling at +34 91 713 01 47. The module mobiCeliac[mini] is a limited version free of charge that contains only the products with the Quality Label and seasonal products (like ice-cream, marzipan). It does not include the scanner.
• iCeliac is the Coeliacs Association of Catalonia application available for iPhone and Android. You can look up the products or gluten-free businesses in a browser and locate them on the map. It is for free if you are a member of the SMAP.

Other useful smartphone apps here.

Agreements with restaurants and hotels

FACE has met agreements with several hotels and restaurants big chains all over Spain:

FACE agreements with HOTELS


FACE agreements with RESTAURANTS

Nevertheless, most of the regional coeliac disease associations have their own agreements with hotels, restaurants, herbalist and handicraft products shops of their region, where you can safely have gluten-free food. You can look up them here or contact the coeliacs society of the region you are in.