Spain is set to introduce a strict ban on beaches as it plans tough new measures to target smoking and vaping.
The Spanish Ministry of Health has confirmed a crackdown on smoking and said people’s health had to be protected.
Under the new anti-smoking plan, smoke-free areas would be extended to include terraces, beaches and cars with minors and pregnant women.
Monica Garcia, health minister, said: “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.”
The Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking 2021-2025 was finalised a year and a half ago but has yet to be introduced.
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Garcia said: “The first steps are to get it out of the box. We will have to look at each of the cases and each of the assumptions.
“What we plan is to study what that plan is going to be, if it needs to be expanded, if it needs to be modified, but we do have a firm commitment to those recommendations.”
The health minister said that vaping would also need to be covered under the legislation as they use nicotine.
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The plans are already proving controversial. Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, mayor of Madrid, said that banning smoking on terraces was “nonsense”.
He said: “From a health point of view, smoking of course, is not the most recommended activity but banning it from being done outdoors seems crazy to me.”
The Balearic islands have already banned smoking on 28 beaches but issues continue with 118 million cigarette butts dumped on the islands each year alone.
Additional reporting by Rita Sobot.
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