Spanish Ministry of Health pushes for terrace smoking ban

The Spanish Ministry of Health is pushing parliament for a terrace smoking ban.

The Spanish Ministry of Health said it is willing to prohibit smoking on terraces by introducing a decree-law, according to the scientific societies it engages with. However, experts see a more ambitious reform possible taking advantage of the “golden opportunity” that the pandemic has given.

The Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR) expects that the ban on smoking on the terraces will be a reality sooner rather than later.

The deputy director-general of Health Promotion and Public Health Surveillance, Pilar Campos, announced last week that the COVID-19 pandemic had opened “an important path” in the fight against tobacco and assured that it was necessary to “take advantage” of the social acceptance to veto smoking in the outdoor hospitality industry to expand the law, a decade later.

The head of the department, Carolina Darias, has been busy over the last few weeks compiling a draft proposal to reform the current legislation and will soon share it with scientific societies and autonomous communities.

The respite that the pandemic has given now allows the Ministry of Health to take up other vital public health issues, such as anti-smoking, which the COVID-19 crisis put aside.

The forecast for the comprehensive plan to come into force is for 2025 – although no specific deadlines have been set – with four objectives: smoke-free spaces, taxation, environmental protection and better coordination between ministries, scientific societies and associations.

The National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking, which includes 40 scientific societies, wants to promote institutional receptivity to include- beyond the hotel industry- bus stops, train platforms, sports stadiums and beaches

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