Spaces for smokers are becoming more and more limited in Spain

If in the last regulation in this regard, from 2011, tobacco/cigarettes were still allowed outdoors such as terraces or soccer fields, but, with the push of specific circumstances that already limited this possibility, either by individual measures, or by specific recommendations or regulations due to of the pandemic, the new reform planned by the Ministry of Health for this 2022 is absolutely exhaustive.

It provides for a ban in all these places and, in general, in those open spaces with crowds of people (including beaches, of course), but also in private vehicles with minors or pregnant women. At the same time, in the new law and in the anti-tobacco plan, dissuasive measures are proposed, such as the increase in taxes and in the price of the product.

All this, always with the recommendation of scientific and medical entities, which advocate the need to reduce the smoking population which, according to the latest European Health Survey, is 16.4% among women in Spain and 23 .3% among men, with mortality figures, attributable to tobacco, of more than 50,000 people per year.

One of the objectives of the new legislation is not only to increase social pressure on smokers to lower the percentages, but also to safeguard the health of passive smokers, exposed to smoke in many of the places where it will soon be smoke-free.

And it doesn't just mean cigarettes, but also cigars, rolling tobacco, water pipes and e-cigarettes. The Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking, which runs until 2025, plans to reduce consumption by 30%, in relation to 2010 data, and, in particular, advocates for a healthier and more respectful society for the neighbor and the environment.