FEATURE
Spain’s smoking
rate rises to
pre-ban levels
Daily cigarette smoking in Spain has gone up to 34 percent.
Two points higher than before the public smoking ban
By Leo Forfar
The Spanish government is accused of being “self-complacent
and passive” after “alarming” new figures reveal that smoking
rates have climbed above pre smoking ban levels.
Spain’s biannual drug consumption survey has shown that
34 percent of the population smoke every day compared
to 32.8 percent when the anti-smoking legislation was
introduced in 2005.
National Committee for Tobacco Prevention (CNPT) president
Dr Regina Dalmau said she was “indignant” at the findings
and has called for enforcement of existing policies plus the
introduction of new measures to tackle the problem.
The survey results showed that the youth smoking rate has
risen by five percent in just two years and the data shows
that more women are also smoking.
Dr Dalmau, a cardiologist, said: “We will have to analyse in
detail what sections of the population have seen an increase
in smoking, but in any of them, the data is alarming.
“Part of the explanation is the lack of policies to control
tobacco, the self-complacency and passivity, which, given
it is our main public health problem, indicates the lack of
a sense of responsibility from the governments involved.”
Health minister María Luisa Carcedo announced the survey
findings in December and has already vowed to introduce a
new plan specifically tailored towards curbing the climbing
youth smoking rate.
She said she did not know the exact reason for the rise, but
said more must be done to enforce the existing laws.
Carcedo did not say if there would be any expansion of
the current laws which regulate smoking in private spaces
such as homes or cars where children are passengers.
Francisco Rodríguez Lozano, the president of the European
Network for Smoking Protection said the increase in women
smokers was part of the reason for the rise.
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He wants Spain to fast-track new anti-smoking measures
in both public and private spaces such as bans on smoking
at beaches and in cars.
While the survey showed that the percentage of people
who smoke has risen, the number of cigarette packs sold
has actually fallen to 2.2 billion in 2017 from from 4.6 billion
in 2005. It is unclear whether the drop is down to people
smoking less, more smokers opting to roll their own or a
combination of both.
The original 2005 law prohibited all workplace smoking but
allowed it in bars and restaurants under 100 square metres
in size, provided they restricted it to a specified smoking
area. A 2010 update largely closed the indoor loophole and
banned smoking in almost all enclosed public spaces, as
well as outdoor spaces in schools, hospitals and children’s
play areas.
Former CNPT head and anti-tobacco campaigner Rodrigo
Córdoba does not see the existing laws as adequate and
feels successive governments have incorrectly viewed a
smoking crackdown as a one-and-done battle, rather than
a process.
“Nothing has been done in recent years,” he said. “In the
fight against tobacco you have to continue to introduce
measures. It’s like riding a bike. If you stop pedalling, you
fall over.”
Córdoba has proposed raising taxes on cigarettes – another
effective method used elsewhere in Europe, though it is
not clear which actions the government will take in the near
future.
Other survey findings showed that alcohol remained the
country’s most popular drug with consumption at 75.2 percent
while daily cannabis use remained constant at 2.1 percent
of those surveyed.