hi there jan/babe,

just to clarify first...........the smoking ban has been in place since 2005 or 2006, but hasnt been strictly dealt with...........now it is

yep , things appear to have changed from 2nd january this year and things are tightened so to speak
I have been reading up on english editions of spanish papers, and some bar/restaurant owners are implipenting these rules, while one major bar/restaurant chain in Madrid and barcelona is allowing themselves to be taken to court when they face that event..............

your comment ( wondered if smokers do actually get asked to go outside.? ) did give me a wry smile, because while reading the spanish papers I read that a customer complained ref smoking taking place and shouldnt be and guess what ?? lol............the owner escorted him of the premises

I've got to log off now for a while to enjoy a good old cigar mmmmmmmmm lol Cant risk the ash dropping on the keys of the keyboard.................enjoy your holidays by the way

harry

someone told me deb n her are stopping playing the white horse cause of it shocking i love them singers they are minted

Hi Harry, yes I knew the smoking ban was meant to be in place a few years now, but the last couple of years it was obvious that most places didnt comply with it.
There were a few restaurants which has outside seating for those who wished to smoke.

I don't smoke and I dont think 'bad' of anyone that does, but used to object when someone lit up next to me when I was eating!

Still will see what its like when we go in a few weeks, and yes I will enjoy it thanks!

jan

Where I live, the vast majority of bars comply (99,5%), at least inside their premises, the vast majority of people comply without complaining too much either. The old law allowed for smoking in bars under 100 square metres in size, and for smoking in larger bars in an enclosed section. The number of places actively disobeying the new law is so small that they are making news. A friend did tell me though the other day that at half time in Deportivo's match the other week that there was nobody left in the bar, all the customers, the owner and the barmaid were all outside having a smoke - for the second half, the owner locked the door and shut the curtains.

This is helpful.

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_28544.shtml

Have smoking areas been removed from the airports? Even though they were totally enclosed?
I'm thinking particularly about Palma where we are going this year.
kate

i will be at gerona airport this week, and they have/had a smoking area outside. i certainly hope it is still there, but will report back on my return.

yes jimd-f, I would like to know the outcome of your holidays ref smoking........I look forward to reading your post.........i hope that you / family / friends all have a good trip and enjoy yourselves. And if you or some of your party are smokers, that you get the peace to do so.

either way have a good time

Harry

i will be at gerona airport this week, and they have/had a smoking area outside. i certainly hope it is still there, but will report back on my return.

Thanks jim, look forward to hearing how you get on.
Think you'll be ok at Gerona as it's open air. A lovely airport to fly out from!
Have a good trip,
kate

just back from lloret and all the bars that were open appear to be taking the ban very seriously.

the penalties to bar owners can be quite severe, so they are implementing it rigorously.

however, as you would expect, this has/is leading to a number of smokers standing in the street outside bars.

in the robin hood/roxys you can smoke on the front terrace of roxys, but there were a lot of people outside the robin hood who had come out for a ciggie. there seemed to be more chat going on outside than inside some times.

this will create a problem in the summer, not just for the robin hood but all bars, when there are more people in the resort and so more people outside smoking. there will be an increase in the noise nuisance caused to the neighbours of all bars that are open in the early hours of the morning, and it will be very interesting to see how that is handled by the authorities.

still, on a plus note for smokers, you can still smoke at gerona airport in the outside areas after security, so you get can the last puff just before boarding.

thank you jim..........for that info, and we hope you had a good holiday and the weather was kind to you..............We have decided to cancel our holiday to Salou in june , or any where in spain. Toooooooo many happy memories of our times in salou, sol piremides, cambrills princess, martim princess, avendia, europa park, golden port and some several times, never mind the estival park, la pineda for me to possibly be confronted by some well meaning idiot on the street, or hotel grounds who didnt tolerate smoking, and have those happy memories spoiled...........

now where can we spend our £3000............mmmmmmmmmmmm ( food for thought )

Harry

Harry, why not go to the Spanish speaking bits of the caribbean? AI!!

Cuba?

ATB,J.

Thanks for reporting back, jim.
Still hoping someone will report back about the situation at Palma airport, but I'm not hopeful the smoking area will have survived.
kate

to clarify re: ibiza

there wasnt a "ban" here - bars under i think it was 100m2 were able to choose and had to put up a sign

as of 2nd jan there is an outright ban on "enclosed public spaces" - in addition to the hospital and school rules

so smoking on terraces etc is ok - so for example at pacha you will be able to smoke on the upstairs outside area

the diario reported yesterday? (day before) that ibiza and formentera bar, restaurant and cafe association are considering a strike in response to the smoking ban - they are suffering very badly from the drop off in trade - 2 years ago they were all forced to install costly specific aircon systems which have now become effectively redundant - there is a lot of talk about compensation

well I heard that bars and places in ibiza / majorca are goin to close and protest cos of the smoking ban (in the paper this week)...WELL DONE...

I accept this is a little of topic and perhaps wrong section, but didnt think it warrented a new thread................Does Portugal have the same no no on smoking and in the bed rooms of their hotels, and can you you purchase the same 16 cartoons of smokes ( duty free ) as you can in Spain.

Harry

Haven't stayed in a hotel in Portugal Harry as we stay in private apartments where the owners are quite happy for you to smoke on the balcony so I'd presume it's the same in hotels. Smoking is also allowed only outside the bars/restaurants (mind you there was only 2 bars in our small resort, neither sold food but we still had to smoke outside.) If you are seated outside in a restaurant however you could smoke.

Same 3200 allowance for Portugal.

thank you Glynis for your very prompt reply...............giving food for thought lol

Harry