“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” said Spanish health minister Monica Garcia referring to the smoking ban and to further restrictions that she is planning to introduce which include tobacco plain packaging, by following comprehensive beach smoking bans derived from the period of the China virus.
Contrary and far from restoring comprehensive smoking rights in Spain, Monica Garcia is letting the “Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025” out of the drawer where it stayed from one and a half year ago when the draft was finalised. She therefore intends to ban outdoor smoking on bar and restaurant terraces, even though this is not even in force in the UK, after Boris Johnson’s government with his Housing secretary Chris Pincher scrapped outdoor smoking bans after venues reopened after the China virus, also plans to ban outdoor smoking across coastline beaches, introduce tobacco plain packaging for Spain for both tobacco and only nicotine products, include vaping products under a single product category with tobacco products, and ban flavours and aromas for both tobacco and only nicotine products.
The persistence of the renewed restrictions follow a smoking ban on several Spanish beaches, including Javea, Alicante, Ibiza, Menorca and Mallorca, to solve the problem of cigarette butts being left in the sand. The Balearic Islands and the Valencia region are the only places in Spain that have maintained this ban from 2020 as part of the China virus restrictions.
Bring Back Smoking Freedom 