Spain is closer to becoming one of the European countries with the most restrictive legislation against tobacco. The Ministry of Health is finalizing the reform of the Antitobacco Law, which today reaches the Council of Ministers, with a clear objective: to prohibit smoking on the terraces of bars and restaurants, one of the few spaces where cigarette consumption was still allowed after the entry into force of the 2011 law.
The initiative is part of the new Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Tobacco Use, with which the Executive aims to expand smoke-free spaces, reduce involuntary exposure to tobacco, and adapt Spanish regulations to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission.
If it goes ahead in the terms proposed by the Ministry of Health, customers will no longer be able to smoke while having a coffee, eating, or enjoying a drink on the terraces of hospitality establishments, a common image that has been part of the Spanish urban landscape for decades.
But the reform goes beyond the terraces. The Government also plans to extend the prohibition to other outdoor collective use spaces, such as public transport shelters, access to educational centers, sports facilities, public swimming pools, or work vehicles. Likewise, the new legislation will equate the restrictions applicable to electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco devices with those of conventional tobacco.
A very unequal map in Europe
Although the Government defends that the reform follows the line set by community institutions, the reality is that Europe continues to offer a very heterogeneous panorama and, in most countries, smoking on terraces is still allowed.
There is no common European regulation that prohibits tobacco consumption in these spaces. The European Commission has recommended that member states expand smoke-free areas and particularly protect minors and vulnerable groups, but it is up to each country to decide the scope of those restrictions.
In countries such as Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, or the Czech Republic, legislation continues to focus mainly on enclosed spaces, so smoking on open terraces remains generally legal.
Other States have opted for intermediate solutions. In France, for example, the Government has progressively tightened restrictions in certain public spaces frequented by minors, although the terraces of bars and restaurants continue to be allowed except in specific cases established by local regulations. In Italy, there is also no national prohibition for terraces, although some cities have approved specific restrictions. A similar situation occurs in Portugal, where regulation is still mainly focused on indoor spaces.
Only some countries in Northern Europe have gone further. Sweden, Finland, and Netherlands have expanded prohibitions to certain outdoor spaces such as stations, playgrounds, sports venues, or access to public buildings within a strategy aimed at progressively reducing tobacco consumption.
In this context, if the Spanish reform is approved in the announced terms, Spain would be positioned among the European States with the strictest regulation on tobacco consumption in outdoor hospitality spaces.
The hospitality industry rejects the measure
The announcement from the Ministry of Health has found an immediate response from the hospitality sector, which believes that the prohibition will have a negative economic impact and questions its effectiveness in reducing smoking.
From Hostelería de España, the main employers' association of the sector, they argue that terraces are open spaces where exposure to smoke is much lower than that which occurs in closed venues and consider that the measure does not respond to a real demand from either entrepreneurs or consumers.
The representatives of the hospitality industry warn that many smoking customers could reduce their time spent in bars and cafes or move to other establishments, which, in their opinion, would directly affect the revenue of thousands of businesses, especially those whose activity largely depends on terraces.
Moreover, they remind that the Anti-Tobacco Law of 2011 forced the sector to make significant adaptations and that terraces have since become the only space where smokers could consume tobacco without violating the regulations.
Another of the arguments put forward by business organizations is the problem of the practical application of the regulation. They consider that it will be the hospitality workers themselves who will have to confront customers to demand compliance with the prohibition, assuming in practice surveillance functions that, in their opinion, correspond to public administrations.
Despite their opposition, the employers' associations claim to share the objective of reducing smoking and protecting public health, although they demand that any reform be based on scientific studies about its real impact and be approved after a dialogue process with the sector.
The support of health organizations
On the opposite side are medical societies, scientific associations, and organizations dedicated to smoking prevention, which support the initiative of the Ministry of Health.
Specialists remind that there is no safe level of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and argue that expanding smoke-free spaces contributes not only to protecting workers and customers but also to preventing the normalization of consumption among children and adolescents.
Experts believe that limiting consumption in collective use spaces is one of the most effective tools for reducing smoking in the long term and remind that the restrictions introduced in Spain in 2006 and 2011 resulted in a decrease in exposure to smoke in closed public spaces.
A reform with parliamentary journey
Before becoming a reality, the reform will still have to overcome several phases of processing. The draft bill will have to be approved by the Council of Ministers and subsequently begin its journey in the Cortes Generales, where parliamentary groups will be able to present amendments and modify its content.
Everything points, however, to the fact that the Government maintains its willingness to push forward one of the largest reforms of anti-tobacco legislation in the last fifteen years.
If it ultimately succeeds, smoking will cease to be a common scene on the terraces of Spanish bars and restaurants, a change that will alter deeply rooted social habits and will once again confront the individual right of smokers with public health protection policies.
A debate that also divides the parties
The anti-tobacco reform opens a new political front in Congress, where the Government will presumably need support to push the modification of the law forward.
The PSOE, promoter of the initiative through the Ministry of Health led by Mónica García (Sumar is part of the coalition Government), argues that the expansion of smoke-free spaces constitutes a public health measure supported by scientific evidence and by the recommendations of international organizations. The Executive maintains that the reform seeks to protect hospitality workers, reduce involuntary exposure to smoke, and prevent the normalization of tobacco consumption among minors.
Sumar has also shown support for tightening anti-tobacco legislation and has even defended on various occasions the expansion of restrictions to other public spaces, in line with prevention policies promoted by other European countries.
In the opposition, the Partido Popular has not yet set a definitive position on the ban on smoking on terraces. Although the party has historically supported measures to combat smoking, some popular leaders have demanded that any reform be processed through dialogue with the hospitality sector and be accompanied by technical reports that certify its effectiveness and assess its economic impact.
Vox, for its part, has repeatedly criticized the increase in restrictions on tobacco consumption, considering that they represent an excessive interference in individual freedoms. The party argues that terraces are open spaces and maintains that it is up to the owners of the establishments to set the operating rules within the legal framework.
Other parties, such as ERC, EH Bildu, BNG, or Más Madrid, have traditionally supported the tightening of public health policies related to smoking, while parties like Junts or the PNV tend to analyze this type of initiative considering both health criteria and its impact on the economic and competitive fabric.
With the backing of health organizations and the outright rejection of a good part of the hospitality sector, the future reform is shaping up to be one of the public health debates with the greatest social impact of the legislature. Its parliamentary processing will allow us to verify to what extent there is a political consensus to extend restrictions on tobacco consumption to one of the last spaces where smoking was still a common practice.