Jorge Hinojosa
SPAIN’S Ministry of Health is considering plans to raise the price of tobacco and ban smoking on terraces and inside cars as part of a raft of measures to improve the nation’s health.
Health Minister Carolina Darias is reportedly finishing off a reform to Spain’s Tobacco Law in a bid to reduce the number of smokers in Spain.
It could see a hike on the price of tobacco where a packet of 20 cigarettes currently costs around €5, half the price of a pack in neighbouring France.
The new rules could also see outside public entertainment spaces, including terraces and sports stadiums, become smoke free as well as banning smoking in private cars.
The move has been welcomed by anti-smoking campaigners.
“We totally agree with these new measures, and hope they are not the only ones,” Raquel Fernández Megina, director of the Association Nofumadores.org told the Olive Press.
“Spain hasn’t made any changes to its laws regulating tobacco since 2010,” she added referring to the date when Spain banned smoking inside public spaces including restaurants and offices.
“The 70% of people who do not smoke are under attack in communal spaces like terraces by those who do smoke,” explained Fernandez whose lobby group launched a
Change.org petition to ban it.
Experts believe Spaniards may be more willing to accept the curbs since a ban on smoking at outdoor tables of cafes, bars and restaurants was imposed as one of the Covid-19 measures during the pandemic.
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