Latest news with #MónicaGarcía
Sydney Morning Herald
01-06-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
From chic to outcast: Europe's smoking heartlands finally catch up
Until recently, French efforts to combat tobacco were more symbolic than structural. Smoking rates have barely budged in years, with around 12 million adults lighting up daily. Disposable vapes – known locally as puffs – have surged in popularity among teenagers, driven by candy-coloured packaging and syrupy flavours. The government has promised a ban, but legislation is still in process. In Spain, where the left-wing coalition government announced its anti-smoking plan more than a year ago, progress has also moved at a stately pace. Health Minister Mónica García now says the legislation is ready, and the country is awaiting EU review before implementing the changes. The people seem ready, even if the politics aren't. France's new plan also includes tax hikes, with the price of a cigarette pack – already among the highest in Europe at €11 ($19.40) – rising to €12 in 2025 and €13 by 2027. Anti-smoking advocates say it doesn't go far enough. Public health experts argue however they should be talking about €16 a pack. Spain's upcoming law is more aggressive on location. It targets the ambiguous zones where smoke still lingers – outdoor terraces, public pools, even bus stops. Heated tobacco and e-cigarettes will be treated the same as traditional cigarettes under the new framework. The goal, García says, is to create a 'shared right to breathe clean air', especially for children, workers, and those unable to opt out of public exposure. Loading And while these efforts fall short of Australia's zero-tolerance approach – or the UK's move to phase out cigarette sales for future generations – they represent a real shift in tone. For the first time, health policy is beginning to override cultural exceptionalism. Still, the resistance runs deep. The tobacco lobby in France remains influential, and enforcement of smoking bans is often inconsistent. A law without teeth, critics warn, is just smoke and mirrors. 'There's no question that the tobacco lobby has more influence than it should,' Professor Loïc Josseran, president of the anti-smoking Alliance Contre le Tabac, told Le Monde. 'Until we deal with that, we'll keep falling short.' What's changing now is not just the law, but the mood. In both countries, smoking is increasingly seen as out of step with modern life – less stylish than selfish, less cultural than costly. It still kills more than 75,000 people annually in France alone. Loading So while the terrace culture lives on – between the clink of glasses and the scratch of a lighter – the sands are shifting. France's beaches will be smoke-free this summer. Spain's pool decks and stadiums won't be far behind.
The Age
01-06-2025
- Health
- The Age
From chic to outcast: Europe's smoking heartlands finally catch up
Until recently, French efforts to combat tobacco were more symbolic than structural. Smoking rates have barely budged in years, with around 12 million adults lighting up daily. Disposable vapes – known locally as puffs – have surged in popularity among teenagers, driven by candy-coloured packaging and syrupy flavours. The government has promised a ban, but legislation is still in process. In Spain, where the left-wing coalition government announced its anti-smoking plan more than a year ago, progress has also moved at a stately pace. Health Minister Mónica García now says the legislation is ready, and the country is awaiting EU review before implementing the changes. The people seem ready, even if the politics aren't. France's new plan also includes tax hikes, with the price of a cigarette pack – already among the highest in Europe at €11 ($19.40) – rising to €12 in 2025 and €13 by 2027. Anti-smoking advocates say it doesn't go far enough. Public health experts argue however they should be talking about €16 a pack. Spain's upcoming law is more aggressive on location. It targets the ambiguous zones where smoke still lingers – outdoor terraces, public pools, even bus stops. Heated tobacco and e-cigarettes will be treated the same as traditional cigarettes under the new framework. The goal, García says, is to create a 'shared right to breathe clean air', especially for children, workers, and those unable to opt out of public exposure. Loading And while these efforts fall short of Australia's zero-tolerance approach – or the UK's move to phase out cigarette sales for future generations – they represent a real shift in tone. For the first time, health policy is beginning to override cultural exceptionalism. Still, the resistance runs deep. The tobacco lobby in France remains influential, and enforcement of smoking bans is often inconsistent. A law without teeth, critics warn, is just smoke and mirrors. 'There's no question that the tobacco lobby has more influence than it should,' Professor Loïc Josseran, president of the anti-smoking Alliance Contre le Tabac, told Le Monde. 'Until we deal with that, we'll keep falling short.' What's changing now is not just the law, but the mood. In both countries, smoking is increasingly seen as out of step with modern life – less stylish than selfish, less cultural than costly. It still kills more than 75,000 people annually in France alone. Loading So while the terrace culture lives on – between the clink of glasses and the scratch of a lighter – the sands are shifting. France's beaches will be smoke-free this summer. Spain's pool decks and stadiums won't be far behind.
Local Spain
30-05-2025
- Health
- Local Spain
EXPLAINED: The public spaces where Spain will ban smoking and vaping
Spanish Health Minister Mónica García on Thursday confirmed that the country's new anti-smoking draft bill has been finalised, legislation aims to place Spain at the forefront of smoke-free policy making. This new legislation, which still has to be approved by the Council of Ministers and then passed by the Spanish Congress, seeks to protect public health, especially that of vulnerable groups such as minors and pregnant women. 'We have always said it. It is time to be ambitious in the fight against smoking, one of the main threats to public health causing 30 percent of cancers,' García said in a statement. García noted that smoke-free public spaces 'are backed by scientific evidence, international experience' and EU recommendations, as well as being 'supported by a majority of citizens, including smokers, who are asking us to take a firm stance against the scourge of tobacco.' These measures will also apply to electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, putting them on a par with conventional tobacco in terms of restrictions. To this end, the Ministry highlights the need to ensure 'safe and healthy environments for the entire population, especially vulnerable groups such as minors and pregnant women' to ensure that everyone has the right not to be exposed to smoke involuntarily.' Where will smoking be banned in Spain? Bar and restaurant terraces Bus shelters Work vehicles University campuses and educational establishments, including playgrounds Sports facilities and public swimming pools Outdoor spaces belonging to nightclubs and event halls. This forms part of a wider national strategy that includes measures such as enforcing plain packaging for tobacco products and stronger regulation of new devices such as vapes and electronic cigarettes. These include eliminating logos and distinctive brand colours on tobacco products, intended to reduce their commercial attractiveness, especially among young people. The reforms also include stronger regulations of heated herbal products and nicotine pouches. As The Local has reported in the past, the Spanish government is also moving forward with a ban on flavoured vapes as these additives can make products more attractive. Another measure being considered is hiking the price of tobacco by raising taxes to act as a disincentive. Spain took a major step to ban smoking in public spaces when in 2011 it put the no fumar (no smoking) signs up in all closed public spaces, including bars, restaurants and other hospitality venues. Its first smoking ban was in 1988, when the Spanish government at the time banned smoking at schools and hospitals, followed by prohibiting tobacco ads on television in the same year.
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
France bans smoking in nearly all outdoor spaces
France will ban smoking in all outdoor places that can be frequented by children, like beaches, parks and bus stops, the health and family minister said Thursday. 'Where there are children, tobacco must disappear,' Catherine Vautrin said in an interview published by regional outlet Ouest-France. The restrictions will come into force on July 1, and failure to comply with the draconian ban could result in a £114 fine, the minister said, adding that children have the 'right to breathe clean air.' Cigarettes will also be banned in areas close to schools to prevent students from 'smoking in front of their establishments.' The ban does not apply to cafe terraces or to electronic cigarettes. Some 75,00 people are estimated to die from tobacco-related complications each year in France. According to a recent opinion survey, six out of 10 French people favour banning smoking in public spaces. But cigarette consumption is on the decline among young people in France, according to a study by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Behaviours. The Health Ministry is also working to 'lower the permitted nicotine level' in electronic smoking devices, and is aiming to 'reduce the number of flavours.' Also today, France's Spanish neighbours proposed a smoking ban on terraces and open-air nightclubs. The latest measure, confirmed by Spain's minister of health Mónica García today, was borne out of an anti-smoking plan approved by autonomous communities at the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System, which sought to expand smoke-free zones across Spain. Spain's Ministry of Health is preparing a law to extend smoke-free spaces to terraces, bus stops, work vehicles, uni campuses, communal swimming pools and open-air nightclubs. The draft bill will need to be approved by Spain's Council of Ministers before it is sent to the Cortes Generales, the country's parliament. The announcement in France also comes as Britain gears up to ban disposable vapes on June 1. The labour ban - first suggested by the Tory government last January - will come into place after data revealed the horrifying extent of young children addicted to fruit-flavoured vapes. MPs and campaigners have warned that a 'woefully inadequate' number of new recruits hired to enforce the disposable vapes ban will lead to a 'new era of criminal enterprise'. In January, scientists found 'huge and often alarming levels of dangerous metals' like lead, copper and cadmium in ten unregulated vape products already on the market. But with less than a week to go before disposable vapes go off the market, experts have warned that millions of Brits will turn to the black market for their nicotine fix. There are also concerns that without vapes, former smokers will go back to cigarettes. Nearly two thirds of people who smoke disposable vapes are prepared to buy illicit vapes if they were readily available, according to a new survey. Last year, the UK government had planned to ban smoking in pub gardens under a tough law which would also prohibit lighting up on restaurant terraces, on the pavement and outside sports stadiums. But in November, the government d ropped plans to ban smoking in outdoor areas like beer gardens and stadiums after a backlash from the hospitality industry. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting said lighting up will still be banned outside school, hospitals and playgrounds.
Scottish Sun
29-05-2025
- Health
- Scottish Sun
Brits face SMOKING BAN in Spain with lighting up around the pool, in outdoor clubs & even on sunny terraces outlawed
The ban would apply to traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco NO FUMAR Brits face SMOKING BAN in Spain with lighting up around the pool, in outdoor clubs & even on sunny terraces outlawed Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BRITS heading to Spain this summer may be in for a surprise as a tough new smoking ban has been proposed - applying to even terraces, swimming pools and open-air nightclubs. The measure was inspired by an anti-smoking plan aimed at expanding smoke-free zones across Spain. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Brits could face a smoking ban in bars, nightclubs and pools Credit: Getty 4 Some smoking bans have also recently been implemented on Spanish beaches Credit: Alamy 4 The law awaits approval from Spain's Council of Ministers and then the country's parliament Credit: Alamy The purpose of the law is to extend smoke-free zones to include terraces, bus stops, work vehicles, university campuses, communal swimming pools and open-air nightclubs. Spain's Minister of Health Mónica García told El Pais that she was pushing for the measure so that "Spain can once again be at the forefront of anti-tobacco policies." She added: "I hope we don't give in to the lobbies that are exerting significant pressure, as they always have. "And the tobacco lobby is doing its job. But ours is to defend the health of the population, of the citizens." Spain's Ministry of Health confirmed the measure today and the bill awaits approval from Spain's Council of Ministers followed by the country's parliament. There, it will have to be agreed by other parties before it is made an official law. While this smoking ban will be nationwide, bans have recently been implemented across Spanish beaches. A smoking ban on L'Albir, a popular beach in Alicante, was announced in March. The mayor of L'Alfas Vincente Arques said: "This measure is part of the council's policy to position ourselves as a benchmark for healthy international tourism." It comes as the country has been hit by a wave of protests against overtourism. Thousands flooded the streets of the Canary Islands in mid-May in Spain's third wave of protests this year. Protests have taken place in Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Ela Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, and Lanzarote. 4 Thousands protested in the Canaries in mid-May Credit: Alamy
