The beaches of Muro near Alcudia in north east Mallorca and Port de Sant Miquel (Sant Joan de Labritja Ibiza) have joined the smoke-free campaign to prevent smoking, which now has 50 ‘Smoke-free beaches, healthy beaches’ in the Balearics.
The councillor for Health, Manuela García, attended an event today, Monday, in Playa de Muro, where the ‘Smoke-free beach’ sign has been placed on the beach.
The event was also attended by the president of the Spanish Association Against Cancer in the Balearics, José Reyes, along with volunteers from the organisation.
Counting eight more beaches in the municipality of Manacor, ten beaches are incorporated into the campaign this year.
There are now 50 beaches that form part of the Balearic network of smoke-free beaches.
The aim is to prevent smoking in the marked areas, promote healthy habits and raise awareness among the population about the importance of not leaving waste in natural areas.
The Regional Ministry has stressed that tobacco consumption is currently one of the main causes of avoidable illness and death worldwide.
According to recent data from the survey on drug use in the Balearics, 34.5 percent of students aged 14 to 18 say they have smoked tobacco at some time in their lives; 6.9 percent have smoked daily in the last month.
For this reason, the councillor has valued every step “to raise awareness among young people about the dangers of tobacco, to work on prevention and to promote healthy lifestyles is ground gained”.
García invited the municipalities that are not yet part of the initiative to join in.
The campaign also focuses on tobacco waste, which contains more than 7,000 toxic chemical substances that poison the environment.
The Director General of Coasts and Coastal Areas, Carlos Simarro, insisted that the campaign aims to “raise awareness of the impact of tobacco both on health and on our natural spaces”.