The introduction of the ban on smoking in public places appears to have been widely accepted in Menorca, with pleasure by the non-smokers and resignation from the smokers. It is becoming ever more common to see a group of people huddled under any available shelter, smoking, outside pubs, restaurants or office buildings.
The general obedience to the law introduced in Spain on 2nd January this year may owe something to the fines which can be imposed for infringing one of the most restrictive anti-smoking laws in Europe (only equalled by those introduced in the U.K., Ireland and Cyprus). For smokers, the first offence can be punished by fines up to 30 euros; after three offences the fines increase and vary between 601 and 100,000 euros. In the case of owners of establishments caught allowing smoking on their premises, the infringement is considered serious and punishable by fines ranging from 601 to 100,000 euros. Owners can also be fined for not displaying no-smoking signs at the entrance to the establishment.
In Spain, not only is smoking prohibited in indoor public places, but also outdoors: if there is a roof and more than two walls; in public parks with children's play areas; within the grounds of educational or health centres or outside the entrances to these. Hotels are only allowed to set aside a maximum of 30% of the rooms for smokers and these must be apart from the rest and always reserved for smokers. Elsewhere in the building smoking is not permitted, even during private functions.
Surprisingly, several politicians and various media outlets have claimed that local bars and restaurants will not lose any clients as a result of the new law and may even gain some. A closer study of the situation in the U.K. following the introduction of the smoking ban in July 2007 may suggest otherwise. The closure rate for pubs in 2007 was seven times higher than in 2006 and 14 times higher then in 2005. At its peak, 52 pubs were closing every week. Within three years of the ban's introduction, a total of 4,148 pubs had closed, 7.6% of the total. Many smokers changed their drinking habits; prior to the ban they accounted for 54% of pub trade which dropped to 38% after the introduction of the law.
A survey carried out in the U.K. in September 2008 (one year into the ban) showed that nearly half the U.K. pub landlords had had to lay off staff because of the smoking ban and three-quarters claimed that the ban had been bad for business. However, while pub trade diminished, the sale of alcohol in supermarkets etc. actually increased.
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