Spain Enacts Tough Anti-Smoking Law

[onehandle]

Source: AP, Huffington Post

MADRID — Tapas bars – the noisy and bustling Spanish success story that combined delicious morsels with good wine and often a cloud of cigarette smoke – are now smoke-free. So are restaurants, discos, casinos, airports and even some outdoor spaces.

Spain on Sunday introduced an anti-smoking law that is likely to turn the EU's fourth largest tobacco producer from a cigarette-friendly land abounding with smoky bars and restaurants, into one of Europe's most stringently smokeless.

The law prohibits lighting up in enclosed public places, although hotels are allowed to reserve 30 percent of their rooms for smokers. In a particularly tough measure, outside smoking is banned in open-air children's playgrounds – even those inside parks – and at access points to schools and hospitals. "It's a step that should have been taken four years ago, but I think the government got cold feet," said bakery worker Inma Amantes Ramos, 29.

Parliament approved an anti-smoking law in 2006 that prohibited smoking in the workplace but allowed bar and restaurant owners with premises under 100 square meters (1,100 square feet) to decide whether to allow smoking or not – and almost all permitted it.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/02/spain-enacts-tough-antism_n_803342.html

[plain1]

1. What's next? Ban on BBQ grills that use charcoal? n/t

[harmonicon]

3. no, because that would have some logic behind it.

Very few smoking bans have anything to do with health, but are rather legislating morality. When vegetarians are in power, then BBQ grills will be banned, and the smoke produced by them will be used as an excuse.

[chervilant]

5. hmm...

"Very few smoking bans have anything to do with health..." Wow. So, you're negating the research of thousands of scientists? How many packs a day, Harmonicon?

BTW, I am extremely sensitive to cigarette smoke. I get a scratchy throat, coughing, sneezing, red eyes, and relentless sinus drainage. I didn't make the connection until friends of mine who smoke pointed this out. We played bridge together, and they started going outside to take their smoke breaks, so that I wouldn't have to suffer.

Restaurants and other businesses are starting to consider that smokers are now a minority, and those of us who don't smoke most often spend our money in places that insure we don't have to tolerate a snout full of someone else's regrettable addiction.

[dmallind]

6. QUITE THE REVERSE

ETS kills about 600k annually. Environmental BBQ smoke? None.

[liberation]

4. LOL

Why do so many people keep getting lost on their way to freerepublic lately?

[K8-EEE]

8. I know right?? nt

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Be interesting to see if and how it is enforced

[nyy1998]

7. Good, it's definitly one thing I hate about going abroad is all the 2nd hand smoke I get

[roody]

9. This will be interesting.

Last summer I went to France, Spain, and Portugal. Spain was the absolute worst for smoke. In France and Portugal, you could escape it by going inside. It was the only bad thing about Spain. At least it was not allowed inside the Alhambra.