Spain: Opening of 200 tobacconists is detrimental to the health of Spaniards and French

The Spanish government announced in early August that it wanted to create more than 200 new tobacconists, including around thirty in border areas frequented by French citizens who cross the border to buy packets of cigarettes at prices that are on average half those in France. A Spanish anti-smoking association (Nofumadores) denounced this initiative as going against the current of the measures taken in both countries to soon achieve a tobacco-free generation.

The 203 new licenses will be awarded for the first time by public auction from October 2022. This means that the opening authorization will be granted at the highest price offered and for a period of 25 years. The buyer will then have to set up his establishment at least 150 meters from another establishment or a school. With the exception of border territories where this regulation is limited to 25 meters, thus confirming the Spanish government's desire to concentrate supply in border areas and attract French consumers. Some neighboring municipalities will thus see their number of tobacconists more than double, for example in La Jonquera (near the Pyrénées-Orientales) which could see its number of tobacconists increase from 7 to 17 concessions.[1].

An initiative that goes against the objective of a tobacco-free generation in Spain

The increase in the number of tobacconists in Spain is in fact contrary to the European desire to reduce the number of cancers in the Union by 2030 and to have a tobacco-free Europe by 2040 and to Spain's health policies. The Nofumadores association[2], the bearer of the plan to achieve a tobacco-free generation in Spain, which consists of taking measures such as reducing the number of points of sale, increasing the current price of tobacco by more than 100 % and prohibiting minors from accessing cigarettes and other nicotine products, deplores the initiative approved by the Public Treasury to open new points of sale.

End of 2021[3], the Spanish government had unveiled an ambitious and comprehensive plan against smoking that introduced, among other things, a ban on smoking on restaurant terraces, beaches and in cars, a restriction on online advertising, a ban on flavourings, the introduction of plain packaging and an increase in taxes. These measures concern all tobacco and nicotine products and are supposed to cover the period 2021-2025. The objectives of this plan are to achieve a tobacco-free generation in the country and to reduce premature mortality due to non-communicable diseases by a third by 2030. In Spain, 20 % citizens over the age of 15 smoke regularly.

And which also affects the effectiveness of anti-smoking policies in France

The increase in the number of tobacco outlets near the French border translates into a ratio of 50 tobacconists per 10,000 inhabitants, while in the rest of the country, the percentage is four outlets per 10,000 inhabitants. The proliferation of outlets offering cigarettes at half the price compared to France risks harming, at least locally, the many efforts undertaken in recent years that have proven effective in reducing the number of smokers.

Such an approach undermines at least partially the efforts made in France in recent years to reduce accessibility to tobacco products, particularly among young people.

According to several studies, a higher density of tobacco retailers is associated with greater tobacco consumption. New Zealand, in its End Game drive by 2025, plans to drastically reduce the number of points of sale across the country (down to 95%).

For the National Committee against Smoking in France[4], this situation highlights the challenges of upward harmonization of taxes on tobacco products, but also the need, in accordance with the provisions for combating illicit trade in tobacco products, to limit supplies to countries in relation to their actual tobacco consumption.

Keywords: Spain, France, points of sale, tobacconists, tobacconists, tobacco-free generation, cross-border shopping, border

©Generation Without Tobacco

AE

[1] Catalonia: 200 new tobacco shops in Spain, including around ten on the border in La Jonquera, France 3 regions, published on August 7, 2022, consulted on August 16, 2022

[2] Press release, Nofumadores require the tobacco seller to record the number of tobacco sales points, Nofumadores.org, published on August 15, 2022, consulted on August 16, 2022

[3] Tobacco-free generation, Spain tightens regulations on all tobacco and nicotine products, published on December 10, 2021, consulted on August 16, 2022

[4] National Committee against Smoking, Combating illicit trade and parallel markets, published June 3, 2021, accessed August 16, 2022