Spain looks to follows suit after the UK and Ireland ,a recent article that may become the law next year to ban smoking indoors.
The smoking ban did financially damage many bars, restaurants and hotels as people may choose to stay at home with a carry out instead of a night down the local.
In Scotland when it was introduced we saw the hardy,determined Scots seen puffing away outside their offices and bars in the evenings come rain or hail. Many bars had to provide a smoking area on pavements and outside areas which cost the owners a fair bit of money.
The big difference in Spain is that the many bars and restaurants already have the facilities and the sunshine to smoke out side so the financial outlay will not hit the hospitality industry in Spain in the same way it did in the UK.
New law announced to coincide with world non smoking day . Last Tuesday the Health Minister of Spain, Trinidad Jimenez declared that new restrictions will be brought in regarding smoking in public places from 2011.
The Minister said that the 2006 law reform prohibiting smoking in workplaces and on the underground, amongst other places, will be put before the Congress for debate.
But banning smoking in public has received opposition from the country’s Hotel and Catering Federation who claim that the ban would considerably affect the industry.
However Jimenez presented statistics showing that more than 44% of Spaniards oppose the ban while a majority of 47% favour the no smoking laws.
Youngsters in Spain are the group which are the heaviest smokers. They are also the ones with the least intention of giving up.
According to Isabel Oriol, the President of Asociación Española contra el Cáncer (AECC), 33% of Spaniards aged between 16 and 24 smoke. Their level of smoking rises during the holidays and on nights out. The average age at which they take their first puff is just 13, and a year later many are smoking on a daily basis. 33.7% of all Spanish smokers are aged 18 to 29.
Monday 31st May was ‘WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY’. It is being used to try and persuade youngsters in Spain to give up smoking. A series of posters and advertisements are being released through various channels. One motivating factor to give up is that next year it will be illegal to smoke in all enclosed public areas, such as bars and restaurants.
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