It's easy enough to understand the financial consequences of having to clean it up, but adding vinyl sounds iffy.
A full cabinet meeting has decided that Spanish gum is just too sticky, costing local councils large sums of money as they try to scrub city streets back into a state of pre-gum purity.
The solution, says the government, is to employ a copolymer of vinyl acetate and vinyl laurate as the basis for Spanish gum.
"It sticks less, which makes cleaning easier," according to the health ministry.
Barcelona's city hall estimates it scrapes up 1,800 bits of gum a day from its streets - at a cost of more than €100,000 (£85,000) a year. It has introduced fines of up to €450 for gum-droppers.
Campaigners have claimed vinyl acetate could be dangerous to health, but regulators disagree.
