BRITS heading to Spain face being hit with fines as a new smoking war has erupted in major holiday hotspots.
Holidaymakers going to sunny Spain are being warned to watch where they light up a cigarette as a terrace smoking ban remains in place.
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A number of Spanish cities set strict new rules for smokers last year introducing a smoking ban in popular beaches such as Barcelona, Lanzarote and Tenerife.
And in a quirky blip to the country’s smoking laws, have been banned from smoking in bar terraces in the Valencia region, which includes Brit-favourite Benidorm, or the Balearic Islands.
Business leaders in these areas say the regulations should be the same throughout Spain and have declared: “We are not police officers.”
Spanish newspaper Informacion.es says the continued ban is causing conflict between clients who smoke and those who don’t and waiting for staff who have to tell people to stub out.
The Valencian community is the only region along with the Balearic Islands that continues to maintain this restriction in Spain which came in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Hoteliers say it should be the same as the rest of the country, that is, either you can smoke throughout the territory or the same rule is imposed for everyone.
Benidorm is one of the areas where smoking on terraces is still not allowed but tourists are ignoring the warning signs and there are no ashtrays.
“The problem lies in the fact that Benidorm receives thousands of tourists from other autonomous communities such as Madrid, the Basque Country or Castilla La Mancha during the summer, regions where these regulations have already disappeared and those who travel from them no longer even have the thought of not being able to smoke on a terrace,” says Informacion.es
“It also happens with foreign visitors. So, as they would back home, they light up a cigarette or vape while in a catering business, despite the “no smoking” signs that continue to be seen in these outdoor business areas.”
Alex Fratini, a businessman in the sector and member of the Benidorm Association of Bars, Restaurants, Cafes and Nightlife (Abreca) said: “It is a problem for hoteliers. The law should be the same for everyone and for all of Spain.
“Because the current situation generates conflicts with customers, we have to deal with tourists and we are not and should not act as police officers.
“We don’t have ashtrays and we have signs that prohibit smoking.”
Abreca has asked Valencia‘s regional council to look at the issue and is calling for police surveillance to avoid conflicts which are already erupting on terraces, either between customers or clients and waiting staff who have to remind them of the rules.
The situation in Benidorm is repeated in other tourist areas of the Valencia province.
“You can smoke everywhere except here,” said Mar Valera, president of the Alicante Provincial Association of Hospitality Entrepreneurs (Apeha), “Hospitality businesses face every day the situation of having to explain why smoking is not allowed:”
“They come from other areas of Spain and we have a big daily fight with this issue,” she told Informacion.es.
“We’re not police. You can’t play police and many don’t understand that.”
It comes as a strict set of new rules see smokers being fined up to £2,660 in Lanzarote and Tenerife.
Smokers are provided with smoking areas but anyone caught smoking at a beach will have to pay out.
Barcelona introduced a smoking ban on all of its beaches last year with those breaking the rules facing strict fines of up to €30 (£25).
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