Smoking: National law versus Balearic law confusion continues

The Balearic Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs, Aina Castillo, said today in Parliament that the Balearics is the only autonomous region where “absolutely” all of the bars, be they large or small, have to have an area for non-smokers (under the Balearic law), a situation which has not arisen in the rest of Spain, where 90 percent of bars of less than 100 square metres have chosen to be all smoking. She said that the islands are the only area where “there will always be a place for the non-smoker. I think that the national Minister of Health, Elena Salgado, has already realised this”. Castillo commented that the national antitobacco law, which came into effect at the beginning of this year, presented the “same difficulties” for the Balearics as for the rest of Spain because it was a law which was not agreed with the autonomous regions and the affected sectors. She said that in the Balearics 70 percent of all establishments have adopted the national law. She highlighted the principal difference which is that in bars of less than 100 square metres the Balearic law, which was introduced in the middle of last year, says that there must be a non-smoking area if smoking is allowed and the national law says that bars can elect to be all smoking or all non-smoking.