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For three weeks, there have been no restrictions on importing cigarettes. Thus, many French people go to Spain to stock up on supplies.
Once across the French border is Jonquera, a Spanish town of 3,000 inhabitants, with tobacco shops on every street. Here, many French people come to buy their cigarettes, much cheaper. “It costs too much in France”says a consumer, while the price of the cartridge is halved in Spain.
“The majority of customers are French”
At the beginning of April, France removed the limit of one cartridge per person purchased abroad. Fewer restrictions for the French, who can bring back more cigarettes at a time. So, Spanish tobacconists are delighted. “The majority of customers are French”, notes a tobacconist. In the Spanish municipality, there are 17 tobacco shops, some of which have opened in recent months. A financial windfall for Spain, and new competition for French tobacconists. For 12 years, in the neighboring department of Pyrénées-Orientales, around twenty tobacco shops have had to close their doors.