Smoking Ban the Spanish Way

Originally set to be implemented on the 1^st of January this year, the smoking ban is still being debated in the halls of power here in Spain with opposition parties failing to agree and Madrid setting its own rules.
Spain’s Health Minister has stated that she wants a new tobacco ban prohibiting smoking in all public places throughout Spain to go into effect as soon as the ruling Socialist Party can gather  cross party support for its ratification by Congress. The major opposition Popular Party has not officially said whether it will support it.

In the meantime the Madrid regional health chief said he didn’t believe that the ban would work in the capital. “You never get good results from banning something, Restrictions mean curtailing freedoms and you have to be very careful about limiting individual guarantees.”  The Deputy leader of the Madrid region, said that his government would defend smokers’ rights.

It was in 2005, that the government introduced a tobacco law that has been poorly enforced. Under the regulations, public places more than 100-square-meters had to have a separate area for smokers. But a year later, a survey showed that more than half of the businesses around the country didn’t stick to the ban.

Madrid is different and the Madrid regional government issued its own decree, giving more freedom to smokers, such as allowing them to light up at certain areas at work and eliminating the 100-square-meter rule in the capital.