Restaurauteurs claim total smoking ban will damage trade

PALMA
THE Majorcan Restaurauters' Association is joining forces with 75 organisations belonging to the regional Hostelry Federation in warning the government about the serious damage to the industry which will be caused if a total smoking ban is imposed in public places.

Stringent changes to Spain's anti-smoking laws which are due to come into force at the beginning of 2011 have several aims in mind. They are designed to give complete protection to the under-age, to give employees the right to work in a non-polluted atmosphere and to allow non-smokers to enjoy a smoke-free environment in all hostelry establishments.

Hoteliers meanwhile have expressed their disappointment that the government in Spain has not seen fit to bring its anti-smoking laws in line with legislation existing in 24 of the 27 European member states that does make restricted concessions to smokers.

The Spanish Hoteliers Federation (FEHR) recently made specific proposals to Parliamentary groups which would mean incorporating specific changes to the imminent total ban on smoking. The Federation suggested that 30 percent of their premises be made available to clients who smoke.

These areas, said the hoteliers, would be physically separated and completely shut off from other recreational areas and the air cleaned through a filter system. Workers would not be obliged to service clients in these areas and they would be banned to the under-age.

The hoteliers are also asking government for a period of time to put necessary measures in place to comply with the new proposals, were they to be accepted. The Majorcan Restaurauteurs' Association fears, however, that the modifications run the risk of not being included into the final text of the law because of fierce opposition.

The strictness of the complete ban, said the association, is so severe that there are only three other member states of the European Union which have imposed such extremes. The Association pointed out that a complete ban has been rejected by the other 24 countries because of the severe damage it would do to the economy and to employment.

The ban, it said, would sound the death knell for an industry already battered by the economic crisis.