Smoking in Spain hits the headlines again as the Spanish government takes another step in its long-running battle with tobacco.
On 9 September the government gave the green light to a new draft law that would shake up smoking rules across the country.
If it passes, the legislation will ban smoking and vaping on bar and restaurant terraces. In addition, it is set to stop under-18s from using vapes, and end sales of single-use e-cigarettes.
Smoking in Spain: New rules
Under the new rules, e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, herbal products, shisha pipes, and heated-tobacco devices would all be treated the same as traditional cigarettes.
That means no using them in indoor public spaces, or outdoors in places like stadiums, sports centres, children’s play areas, bus stops, schools and bar terraces. Advertising, sponsorship and promotion of these products would also be banned.
Spain’s health minister, Mónica García Gómez, said the plan aims to put Spain “back at the forefront of the fight against tobacco,” just as it did with the workplace smoking ban in 2005 and the bar and restaurant ban in 2010. She pointed to some sobering figures: tobacco claims 140 lives a day in Spain, around 50,000 people a year, and contributes to nearly a third of cancer cases.
The ministry argues the new measures are necessary because products like vapes and nicotine pouches have become hugely popular in recent years. This especially applies to younger people, and can act as a gateway to smoking.
Do the proposals go far enough?
But while the proposals go further than current rules, they don’t go as far as some campaigners had hoped. Notably absent is a requirement for plain, generic packaging on cigarettes. There’s no increase in tobacco prices either, despite Spain being one of the cheaper places in Europe to buy a pack.
Anti-smoking groups have criticised the omissions, warning that leaving out plain packaging in particular is a win for the tobacco industry and a missed opportunity to stop young people from picking up the habit.
The government has said it may still add the packaging rule as the bill moves through parliament.
