The new Anti-Smoking Law being prepared by the government will not allow smoking in work vehicles, educational centres, including outdoor spaces such as school playgrounds and university campuses; sports facilities, public swimming pools, bus shelters and the exteriors of nightclubs will also be smoke-free, according to the Minister of Health, Mónica García, on Cadena SER radio.
The text, which was known to be intended to extend the smoke-free areas to terraces and public events, is ‘finalised’, according to the minister. ‘It will ban smoking on terraces because it is a measure that is supported by scientific evidence and by a large majority of the public, including many smokers,’ she said.
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. 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”.
The campaign also focuses on tobacco waste, which contains more than 7,000 toxic chemical substances that poison the environment. In addition to traditional smoking, a recent rule change has seen vaping banned in several locations. Ten beaches in Barcelona and 28 in the Balearic Islands have banned the use of vapes.
Elsewhere in Spain, 53 beaches in Andalucia, 61 beaches on the Canary Islands and 18 beaches in the Costa del Sol have all been declared smoke-free. In Costa Blanca, one in four beaches has banned smoking.