Brits who are partial to a cigarette and plan to sun themselves on Spain’s glorious beaches could be disappointed this summer as Spain considers a ban on smoking for its attractive coastlines.
The ban is being considered as part of a new crackdown on smoking and vaping by the Spanish Ministry of Health. The Spanish government is prioritising extending smoke-free spaces to terraces, beaches and cars in the presence of minors and pregnant women.
Health Minister Mónica García said the government could not ignore the severe health impacts of smoking. She said: “We must look at the law again because we cannot turn our backs on the only measure that can give the population more years of life and a better quality of life, which is to reduce smoking.”
While Spain’s Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025 was finalised a year and a half ago, it has yet to materialise. Ms García says the government needs to “get it out of the box.”
She said Spain has a “firm commitment” to the recommendations surrounding banning smoking in further public places, adding: “What we plan to is study what that plan is going to be, if it needs to be expanded, if it needs to be modified.”
Vaping will also be included in the new legislation.
Some holiday hotspots in Spain already have no-smoking beaches, with 28 in the Balearics alone.
José Luis Martínez-Almeida, mayor of Madrid, blasted the idea of prohibiting smoking on terraces as “nonsense.”
He added: “From a health point of view, smoking, of course, is not the most recommended activity, but from there to prohibiting it from being done outdoors seems crazy to me.”
It is the latest in years of government action to try and cut down on Spain’s smoking rate. A smoking ban in pubs was introduced in 2005 – two years before the UK followed suit – and smoking in all enclosed spaces was banned in 2011.
As per Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking can cause cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Data compiled by Eurostat reveals that 23.1 percent of people in Spain over 15 smoke every day. The figure is higher than that of the EU as a whole, which sits at 19.7, and considerably higher than the UK’s ONS figure of 12.9 percent.
