Smoking Ban in Spain*
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?4300 Reports and Thousands of Sanctions!
(*) Smoking bans or smoke-free laws are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in workplaces and other public spaces. Legislation may also define smoking as more generally being the carrying or possessing of any lit tobacco product.
It’s been nearly 5 years since this legislation came into force...
But some may be disobeying!!
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Police officers watch out for smoking in public
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The year preceding the fifth anniversary of the smoking ban, a policy that immensely annoyed owners of bars and restaurants who had already reconditioned their venues to enable areas reserved for smokers. Hospitality entrepreneurs despaired when they realized their investment was in vain and they didn't hide their fear of losing customers. Maybe it was done at the wrong time or maybe the
wrong way? Radical prohibitions will inevitably generate undesirable situations...
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| Caught on camera: waiter smoking!! |
But venues soon
got used to smoke-free zones. They really did. Experts from the National Committee
for Smoking Prevention gave a compliance rate of over 95% (where inspections were conducted regularly).
Spain
In 2015 there
were over 120,000 inspections nationwide and...
- 4305 Reports by local authorities (Policia Municipal and Guardia Civil).
- 3485 Were given a warning.
- 1739 Received a fine.
Madrid
Madrid City Council issued 620 warnings after receiving 930 reports,
however, no one was fined!
Some bars and restaurants, in the more exclusive areas of Madrid, may be dodging terrace regulations because they haven’t adapted yet or perhaps have a permissive attitude towards their customers smoking?
According to our Chief Legal Officer: "50% of the area within the perimeter must be open air."
Ayuntamiento de Madrid declined to provide any information regarding how many inspections carried out.
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| This one went viral last week |
England
UK ban in 2007 made it illegal to smoke in all enclosed work places.
Russia
Russia was tobacco industries' paradise for a long time, with almost no regulation. However, the Soviet Union approved countrywide campaigns against smoking.
The law "on the protection of the population from the harmful effects of
cigarette smoke and the consequences of tobacco consumption" has been
effective since 2014.
Smoking in workplaces, on aircraft, trains and
municipal transport as well as in schools, hospitals, cultural institutions and
government buildings has been restricted and tobacco advertising and
sponsorship forbidden. Graphic warnings have become compulsory. But only since last
year has smoking also been prohibited in restaurants and cafes.
