Spain plans smoking ban at bar terraces, beaches, stadiums

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MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s minority leftist government introduced a bill on Tuesday to ban smoking at outdoor venues including beaches, bar and restaurant terraces, bus stops and stadiums.

The ban would also apply to vapes or e-cigarettes, which are increasingly popular with young people.

“We’ll always put public health ahead of private interests,” Health Minister Monica Garcia told reporters. “Everyone has a right to breathe clean air … and live longer and better lives.”

The hospitality sector has criticised the bill, as Spain’s outdoor terraces, used throughout the year, are popular with smokers. Indoor smoking has been banned since 2011.

The bill follows similar legislation implemented in France in July, although Spain’s northern neighbour exempted cafe terraces and e-cigarettes from its ban.

The new bill, which still requires parliamentary approval and can be amended, comes as increasingly smoke-averse European countries are cracking down on tobacco and tobacco-like products. However, the continent still has the highest global smoking rates at around a quarter of adults.

The government has had little success approving legislation in a heavily-fragmented parliament lately.

Over 50,000 people die each year in Spain from smoking-related causes, about 137 deaths per day, health ministry data shows.

The final bill text approved by the Spanish cabinet does not impose plain tobacco packaging (the removal of all branding from cigarette packs), a policy already implemented in 25 countries, according to the World Health Organization.

(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip, Alexandra Hudson)