the world as we know it did not spin of its axis, but speak to publicans in your local town, and ask them how the smoking ban has affected them.
almost all that are left will tell you that trade is down since the ban. pubs in the UK are closing at a faster rate than ever with up to 5 pubs closing every day
from UK Business Property

the same will happen in Spain, with all these nice pubs that the Brits use to drink with the locals being the first to be affected.

like the UK, pubs that have the space and ability to turn themselves into primarily eating establishments will have a better chance of survival, but for the local bars this, together with the reduction of tourists, could well be the death knell for many of them.

so this year, if you go AI to spain, maybe venture out a bit more; spend a little bit more money in the local bars and restaurants, or next time you go back to spain there may be no pubs to drink in.

Are you trying to say smokers now sit at home watching the tele? The pro smokers have jumped on the idea that the ban is closing all the pubs when they have been shutting for decades due to a change in how we spend our leisure time, people now are more inclined to go out as a Family to Pizza Hut, where as in my Dads day he met his mates down the pub for a game of cards!
Pubs nowadays have to offer something different
Wetherspoons are the most successful pub chain in the UK OPENING new pubs everyday & they banned smoking before it was law!
In any business it survival of the fittest & the same applies to Spain!

I don't doubt that pubs are closing down in the UK but I do doubt that it is due to the smoking ban. Alcohol has never been cheaper to buy in the supermarkets whilst duty has been going up, people are losing their jobs and economising on their social lives, families spend more time together and want to socialise together. Pubs need to adapt to what the market wants and that's no longer the old style smoky public bar filled with mainly men with the women sat in the lounge bar and the kids left at home.

The smoking ban has been in place for far longer up in Scotland and whilst pubs and bars have changed hands, only one pub/bar has closed down and remained closed for any length of time in the last 20 years in the town I live in - and it was the one that had latterly acquired a reputation for trouble with the result that most customers have voted with their feet. Not being able to smoke in the bar had nothing to do with it - fear of getting glassed in a fight did. Most of the locals expect it to re-open under new management once things have settled down. Prior to the ban, I rarely socialised in a pub or bar because I hated the way my hair and clothes smelt afterwards - now I do and many friends and neighbours who would never previously have frequented local bars do so now as well. I've also noticed that the ban doesn't seem to have resulted in visitors frequenting the thriving pubs on the high street either. I suspect that, yes, some of them may have lost smoking customers but that they've been replaced by new, non-smoking ones.

When I was last in the Canaries on La Gomera in October 2009 I did notice that some of the bars had closed down - but it was also noticeable that there were always far too many of them chasing fewer visitors out of the main season. Those most affected were the very basic and the most upmarket - the middle market was still doing very nicely. And the reduction in visitors was due to a number of factors - not least problems with the ferry service round to the southwest corner of the island rather than the rudimentary smoking ban in place at the time.

SM

On our many visits to Benidorm we've walked past many a British Bar...nobody in but the owners and cheap plastic furniture...nothing happening, I'm sure from now on when these type of bars close down the will blame the smoking ban! Not the fact that they offer nothing for the holidaymaker.

what i did say was

like the UK, pubs that have the space and ability to turn themselves into primarily eating establishments will have a better chance of survival, but for the local bars this, together with the reduction of tourists, could well be the death knell for many of them.

as someone who was in the pub trade for 25 years, and still have some connections in it, i am probably more aware of the finances related to pubs than most.
it is a fact that wetherspoons are a successful pub chain in this country, but most of the bars in spain are run by their owners, not by large chains. these are the ones most at risk ;just the same as in the UK where the small freehouses are most at risk. wetherspoons is ok for a cheapish meal and a couple of pints, but not really a place where you would spend all evening. wetherspoons do their business on large turnover and that is what they get. lots of people in for a couple of drinks and something to eat, or kids in to get a few cheapish beers down their throats on friday and saturday nights before they go on to a club. they are the type of pubs where you meet others before going on elsewhere, not somewhere that you would spend all evening.
in the UK the pubs that are surviving normally have a good food trade, with the better margins that brings than a pub which just relies on wet trade. the same will happen in spain, unless they modify the current laws.
there are huge numbers of tourists whose evening entertainment is to go to a pub for a few drinks, and to chat to the locals. people who do not normally frequent pubs in the UK on a daily basis will go to a spanish bar most nights.the spanish pubs put on the entertainment that they can afford, and which they know will attract customers -disco and karaoke are prominent in most spanish resorts, whether that is your cup of tea or not.
as in the UK smokers will find somewhere which suits them, because of the facilities that that particular establishment has ie a pub with a patio that permits smoking will get a lot of new trade, and pubs that cant expand or provide an area for smokers or change to a food led pub will close.
whatever your views on the rights and wrongs of smoking, the fact remains that this ban, together with the current economic situation, and the change to AI by the spanish hotel chains will have a devastating effect on the pub trade.

having booked through thompson holidays a few months back for a 2 week stay in Best Cambrills hotel in cambrills leaving late may, and tonight having a look at the main " Best " web site, it now reads " quests should know that Best Hotel Chain has a non smoking policy. It dosent look good for our holidays, which now will most likley be cancelled .............a well

Harry.

Now i wonder where could i spend my money, not in spain anyway

Harry, surely you'll lose your deposit on that one?

ATB,J.

So gentleharry, where as most go on a sun holiday or beach holiday, you go on a smoking holiday! sounds lovely!
AI is the thing that is killing off the bars in Spain not the smoking ban, but the ban is leapt upon by the smokers for their own ends!

But Harry, surely most places have smoking bans in public places ? Well in Europe, The States, Austraila etc You will find yourself sitting in a little rowing boat in the middle of the channel

I can't see the balconies being out of bounds surely? I've stayed in private apartments and been allowed to smoke on the balcony People will smoke on the balcony regardless I would imagine.

Belgium has, at the moment, a system whereby you can smoke in bars as long as they don't serve food. Myself and a couple of friends were there in November & it was bitterly cold so we drank in the non food serving bars.

I suppose, in time, this is a good thing as it may discourage youngsters from smoking but I'm from an era where the doctors smoked in the surgery, you could smoke in your hospital bed etc so it's not going to make me decide to stop smoking - you just look for a way round it.

I was just thinking about Harrys post and then remember that you can still get 200 fags for abour £4 or maybe its $7 in Sharm. Not sure if they are genuine though or fakes, but people seems to smoke them whatever they are. Also I dont remember them as having a smoking ban there yet.

I can't see how they can stop folks smoking on Balconys either Glynis ?

Thought that I'd share a couple of "smoking moments" with you all....

2 years ago, in Brisbane, sara and I were in an open-air city centre pub... Ithe ONLY thing denoting the boundaries of the pub was a 2ft.high and 1ft. wide shrubbery, which was intermittant..
I couldn't smoke whilst on one side of the shrubbery, but I could on the other...????

In another bar in Sydney I went outside to have a fag, taking my drink with me (no problem there) and whilst outdoors I opened and started eating a bag of peanuts.. I was promptly approached by a member of staff to tell me that I couldn't eat in the smoking area!!!

I don't have a problem with non-smoking areas, but the anti-smoking lobby has far too much power IMHO and I agree with the poster who drew attention to the FACT that smokers are the ONLY group who can be LEGALLY discriminated against in the workplace or even at a job interview...

ATB,J.

thank you folks for your replies...........my concern on this subject was hearing on news channels that Spain from 2nd january 2011 was tightening up its ban / restrictions..........yep I agree that it was possible to smoke on hotel balconies.........maybe before the start of this year, there was a little give and take BUT the phrase " tightening up ", must surely mean that...........I then began to wonder, was this being done by the spanish authorites ( excuse spelling ) so that when they go cap in hand to the EU shortly looking for a bail out, as they will, that the EU wont then come back at them for their loose way in handling the smoking ban.............A bit of politics in all this i think...........it wont be until the season starts that holiday makers will be able to see for themselves the tightening being done and to what extent. and then reporting back in the reviews of their holiday in 2011...................One web site that i visited regarding this hotel states " ALL Public and private spaces non smoking "

In closing I am a little sad to read some of the the downer comments from members, but there again we are all different lol Its always good to remember that " what goes around comes around "...........since joining last year I have received great advice on various holiday issues, and dont want to go down the road of slagging members in reply, on this or any other topic

harry

I don't think it's so much tightening up on the existing regulations of 2006, more an out and out ban - one of the strictest in Europe. It's gone from allowing owners of bars, restaurants and cafes to decide whether to ban smoking or not to banning smoking in all enclosed public spaces, including bars, restaurants and nightclubs.
Surely the best way of finding out your hotel's smoking policy is to ask them.

the hotel in question is closed until mid may 2011..........I am going to get thompson holidays to contact the Besthotel chain head office, and look for something in writing from them . I could do it myself but perhaps give thompsons their place first

harry

I agree with the poster who drew attention to the FACT that smokers are the ONLY group who can be LEGALLY discriminated against in the workplace or even at a job interview...

Can you clarify this a bit further - on what grounds can an employer in the UK legally discriminate against a smoker in the workplace that don't apply to other groups as well? Smoking within the workplace is not allowed in offices, but there are lots of other things that employees aren't allowed to do on their employers' premises within working hours either.

SM

I'm confused, I interview people as part of my work and we never discriminate against smokers, they have the same chance of getting a job as anyone else. It's not asked about in interviews or on application forms.

People can't smoke in the workplace one employed, but smokers aren't discriminated against during selection processes.

A prospective employer just wouldn't know if someone smoked or not.

You simply cannot even ask a question about smoking in an interview, so I don't understand how smokers can be discriminated against at that stage?

I am on interview panels and I know how careful we have to be about our questioning - and justifying our decision to employ or not employ. It could never be on the basis of smoking.

This is what I thought and hence why I asked. I'm rarely involved in interviewing new staff now but couldn't imagine that you would be allowed to do this because anti-discriminatory codes seem to be stronger than they ever were with regard to what can and can't be asked about at interview.

SM