Barcelona bans smoking on beaches

The 1^er July, the regulation banning smoking cigarettes on Barcelona's 5km of beaches officially came into force. This provision will apply all year round and not just during the tourist season, with a view to creating healthy public spaces protected from passive smoking, clean and more attractive on the coastline of the Catalan capital. Violations of the smoking ban will be punished with up to 30 euros[1].

As of May 2022, there were 550 smoke-free Spanish beaches across the country, but Barcelona becomes the first major Spanish city to implement such a ban.

A well-received measure that significantly reduces pollution

Cigarette butts are the most common litter on Mediterranean beaches, accounting for 25,100 of all items collected. Last summer, the city implemented a pilot ban on four beaches where researchers observed a significant drop in the number of smokers, although those who broke the rule were not fined. About 20,100 of beachgoers smoked on the smoking-friendly beaches compared to 21,100 on the pilot beaches.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Barcelona City Hall revealed that more than 80% of residents were in favour of banning smoking on beaches.

A measure set to become more widespread with a view to a tobacco-free generation

In Spain, discussions are underway regarding a regulation, effective from mid-2023, that will ban smoking in many open spaces, including terraces and beaches. In 2020, seven autonomous communities in Spain had already adopted the measure "Terrazas sin Humo" (Smoke-free terraces) as a way to limit the spread of the COVID19 virus by prohibiting the smoking of traditional and electronic cigarettes on the outdoor terraces of bars and restaurants if compliance with a distance of two meters between individuals was not guaranteed.

Spain unveiled a five-year plan in 2021 to achieve a tobacco-free generation by 2030, including the introduction of plain packaging for manufactured cigarettes, a sharp increase in tobacco taxes and the introduction of a special tax for e-cigarettes. In early 2022, some anti-smoking associations had asked the Ministry of Health to ban the sale of tobacco to people born since 2007, as planned in Denmark.

The challenge of a tobacco-free generation is significant: in 2020, more than 32% of the population aged 15 and over consumed tobacco daily and smoking is the cause of more than 51,000 premature deaths in the country.

Keywords: Spain, Barcelona, smoke-free beaches, smoke-free generation

AE

[1] As of 1 July: no more smoking on Barcelona's beaches, The mayor, published July 1, 2022, accessed July 4, 2022