Spain: Elected official accused of organizing distribution of pocket ashtrays

The elected official in charge of public health and safety in the city of Valladolid, Spain, is being criticized for having established a partnership with a tobacco industry organization to distribute pocket ashtrays. Health professionals see this as a publicity stunt aimed at exonerating manufacturers and normalizing tobacco.

It was during the patron saint festival of the city of Valladolid that Alberto Cuadrado Toquero (Vox), municipal head of public health and security, was criticized for his partnership with Mesa del Tobaco ("the Tobacco Forum"), an organization that brings together retailers, farmers, importers, distributors and manufacturers of tobacco.[1]The operation, launched on September 7, 2023, aimed to distribute 7,500 pocket ashtrays, particularly during the patronal feast period, with the stated objective of making smokers more responsible and limiting the throwing of cigarette butts on the ground.

Public health actors denounce a counter-intuitive operation

The launch of this operation provoked a widespread reaction of incomprehension from health associations and elected officials of the municipal opposition, who unanimously denounced this partnership as an advertising campaign aimed at normalizing tobacco.

The president of the National Committee for the Prevention of Tobacco Use (CNPT) declared in particular that "No municipal, regional, or national authority can collaborate with the Tobacco Bureau to carry out this type of advertising. It's an image-washing exercise, using the soil, rivers, and the sea as pretexts. But in reality, what [the manufacturers] are saying is 'go ahead, keep smoking!'" This official also believes that "The budget invested in this agreement should be dedicated to preventing and combating smoking."[2], the reduction in tobacco consumption being at the origin of a reduction in waste and also in the risks associated with it such as fires.

The Spanish Association for the Fight Against Cancer (AECC) believes that "This initiative does not combat smoking, but it normalizes it and perpetuates the use of substances that cause cancer and many other diseases. It is a step backward in the fight against smoking."[3]

An attempt to renormalize tobacco in Spain

With this operation, supported by the city's mayor (Popular Party), Alberto Cuadrado Toquero has indeed contravened Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which prohibits any collaboration between a public representative and tobacco companies. The distribution of ashtrays is thus considered by public health actors as a communication operation aimed at renormalizing tobacco, the consumption of which has been in decline for several decades.

In France, public health associations have also denounced similar operations to distribute pocket ashtrays, whether organized by the Confederation of Tobacconists or by Alcome, an eco-organization entirely funded by the tobacco industry. Believing that pocket ashtrays are false solutions to the problem of cigarette butts thrown on the ground, these associations remain vigilant about this type of operation and instead recommend the elimination of filters of cigarettes.

To learn more about pocket ashtrays, read our decryption.

Keywords: Spain, Valladolid, pocket ashtrays, article 5.3.

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[1] Keeley G, Spanish health officials prompt outrage after handing out ashtrays from tobacco lobbyists, i News, published September 8, 2023, accessed September 13, 2023.

[2] The Smoking Prevention Committee criticizes the Councilor for Public Health of Valladolid for distributing ashtrays and promoting tobacco consumption, Archynewsy, published September 8, 2023, accessed September 13, 2023.

[3] The Association Against Cancer denounces the City Council's distribution of ashtrays at the Valladolid festivals, Nation World News, published September 8, 2023, accessed September 13, 2023.