laws implemented in Spain and Bosnia and Herzegovina

In France, the anti-smoking plan includes a ban on smoking at the beach. In Barcelona a similar law is applied and in Bosnia and Herzegovina smoking is officially banned in public places.

It is becoming more and more difficult to smoke in public spaces in Barcelona. In 2021, it became the first city in Spain to ban smoking on the beach. This measure is for public health, but it is also about protecting the environment, since most of the time, smokers do not pick up their cigarettes and cigarette butts take on average 10 years to decompose.

This ban was rather well received by the residents as explained by Loli, who adapted. “It seems very good to me and we don’t have to disturb the others. On the other hand, they shouldn’t ban it in the street! Then it would become very complicated for us.” A street ban is not on the agenda, but it will soon be impossible to smoke on terraces in Catalonia.

Unsurprisingly, the catering sector is hostile to this measure and considers that it will scare away customers. The regional Minister of Health, Manel Balcells, considers this law necessary “to protect the passive smoker. If someone wants to die while smoking, that is their individual freedom. We must eradicate tobacco from public spaces and I hope that this will be the case in 2024.” The Catalan government wants to go further by extending this ban around schools, at bus stops and inside cars.

In Bosnia, cigarettes are still well established

Tobacco is truly present everywhere in Bosnia-Herzegovina and more generally in all the Balkan countries. The proportion of smokers in the local population is high and concerns all age categories. Nearly half of those over 15 consume an average of 17 cigarettes per day.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is also one of the countries with the most smokers in Europe and in this poor country, with a failing health system, this situation obviously has dramatic consequences. Tobacco is notably responsible for 10,000 deaths per year, in a population of just over 3 million inhabitants.

To combat this scourge, smoking has been banned in closed public places since spring 2023. But in a country where cigarettes are king, the application of the law is very gradual and for the moment, bars and restaurants in Sarajevo and other Bosnian towns are still full of smoke. Additionally, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a federal country and this law only applies in the Bosnian-Croatian Federation, one of the country’s two administrative entities. In the other part of the country, the Serbian Republic of Bosnia, no bill is on the agenda. And in cafes and restaurants, cigarettes still have a bright future ahead of them.