No, unsurprisingly it hasn’t been settled yet. The Government has now decided to delay it until June/July this year due to the fearce opposition.

Autonomous regions such as Andalucía have threatened they will pass their own law on the matter bypassing the state law which will effectively negate it. Andalucía’s Junta (which ironically belongs to the same political party as the Government) find it absurd that barely 3 years after the owners of restaurants, bars etc had to pay large amounts to adapt to the amended smoking law of 2006 it will be for nothing as I has already pointed out in my blog above. There’s huge dissension even amongst their own ranks, let alone everyone else.

http://www.intereconomia.com/noticias-gaceta/sociedad/andalucia-pide-al-gobierno-que-se-permita-fumar-los-locales-acondicionados?page=1

There’s huge opposition from businessman:

http://www.infohoreco.es/noticias/detalle_noticia/-/asset_publisher/O6cV/content/los-hosteleros-intensifican-sus-criticas-contra-la-ley-anti-tabaco

This frankly may not be the best of times to implement this law.

Regards

No, it hasn’t been settled yet. The Government has now decided to delay it until June/July this year to buy time.

Autonomous regions such as Andalucía have threatened they will pass their own law on the matter bypassing the state law which will effectively negate it. Andalucía’s Junta (which ironically belongs to the same political party as the Government) find it absurd that barely 3 years after the owners of restaurants, bars etc had to pay large amounts to adapt to the amended smoking law of 2006 it will be for nothing as I has already pointed out in my blog above. There´s huge dissession amongst their own ranks, let alone everyone else.

http://www.intereconomia.com/noticias-gaceta/sociedad/andalucia-pide-al-gobierno-que-se-permita-fumar-los-locales-acondicionados?page=1

There´s huge opposition from businessman than own restaurants, hotels, pubs etc.

http://www.infohoreco.es/noticias/detalle_noticia/-/asset_publisher/O6cV/content/los-hosteleros-intensifican-sus-criticas-contra-la-ley-anti-tabaco

This is frankly not the best of times to implement this law.

Regards

http://www.theleader.info/article/21145/spain/national/spain-split-on-smoking-ban/

I really hope for a compromise. Total smoking bans are so correct and boring

Would you be so kind to update us on this, whenever you hear news about it?

Thank you again, Raymundo

There is no official confirmation on the Government amending the Smoking Law other than the Health Minister’s public declarations.

I must add that it’s not unsusal for the Spanish Government to announce legal measures just to test the waters which may not be carried out at a later date. If there was a huge public outcry they may change thier minds as in many other issues.

So perhaps we are being carried away until this new law is actually enacted.

Regards,

This is just too bad. I feel sorry for the owners of the bars and small tapas-restaurants.

Spain was such a nice place to visit, because free choice was still allowed. I visited Barcelona 10 days with my family one month ago – we had a nice holiday, because it was not impossible to smoke everywhere, like it is in my country.

Hopefully you will not see a breakdown i the no. of tourists, but I suspect you will see some …

Best wishes

Sorry, my bad. I thought I had already included the source of the news:

http://www.laopiniondemurcia.es/comunidad/2009/11/06/1-enero-prohibido-fumar-lugares-publicos/209364.html

To the best of my knowledge it will be implemented nationwide, yes, amending the existing Smoking Law quoted in the post above.

Having said that, one cannot but wonder just how keen are they really going to be in enforcing it? Because one thing is banning it and another is actually having the guts to enforce it.

If these were normal times it wouldn’t be such a big deal because they would hardly enforce it. But given the fact that our Government is now bent on offsetting the shortfall in property-related taxes I suspect they may be zealous to fine offenders. Just like they are overeager to fine you with speeding tickets lately.

But that’s just an educated guess.

Regards,

Could you please give me a link to document this info? Also: Do you know whether this law will be the same all over Spain, since I learned there are different laws in different regions – Mallorca / Madrid / Barcelona / The Canaries?

Perhaps you could point me in a direction where I can get this knowledge. I would be pleased if you could help me. Thank you.