The Spanish smoking ban is set to be the strictest of implementations thus far compared with the other European smoking bans. This all out ban on smoking in public places means that no bar, nightclub, café or restaurant will be facilitating the needs of the smoker from January 2011 and furthermore, even smoking by actors on television will be banned – something that has not been legislated on in the UK.
Older laws permitted smoking in bars that were less than 1,100 square feet in size and included a smoking section in restaurants. Inevitably, larger venues suffered but now all businesses will compete on a level playing field as the same laws will be forced upon all kinds of enclosed public spaces.
It is predicted that the bar and restaurant sector will see 145,000 jobs lost and a 10% loss in income next year as a result however the effects have not been noted in other countries after the implementation of similar bans. Spain will no longer be a smoker’s paradise but no worse for it in my opinion.