The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, speaks at the press conference to present the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana race this Monday in Madrid.Borja Sanchez-Trillo (EFE)
Should smoking be banned on terraces? The new head of health, Mónica García, said this Monday that one of her first steps as minister will be to restore the 2020 anti-smoking plan. This plan includes, among other things, the ban on smoking in cars, on terraces, on beaches and the regulation of electronic cigarettes. Twenty-four hours after this announcement, the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, spoke out against the measure. “It seems to me that smoking is of course not the most recommended activity from a health point of view,” he said in a statement with questions from the press during a business day with representatives of the Valencian Community at the Casino de Madrid.
“But from there to banning what can be done outdoors, it seems crazy to me. I think it could even be suggested to ban smoking in private spaces too. That's why I believe that Mónica García must solve the main problem that we have in Spain, namely General practitioners, if you want to start with useful action, not headlines. “It seems to me that the ban on smoking on terraces is a toast to the sun.” Last August, the Valencian Community (PP and Vox) once again allowed smoking on terraces, something that had not happened since the pandemic. On September 22, Catalonia halted a plan to impose a ban due to pressure from restaurateurs.
Hospitality in Madrid
Throwing a beer in Madrid has been a political issue since the start of the pandemic. Hospitality is one of the sectors that has created the most jobs in Spain in recent years. Almost 270,000 families live in the capital thanks to this company, which contributes 4.6% to the city's GDP. “Thanks to you, we won’t lose our identity,” Ayuso often says to hoteliers. To make a promise, the President of Madrid even promised them the vaccine before anyone else. “We have examined the possibility,” he said in February. The reality is that this decision did not depend on her but on the Ministry of Health, but the community's propaganda equipment misses what all the waiters want to hear. “Ayuso made Madrid great,” noted the waiter at the Don Jamón Museum in Plaza Mayor, Eusebio Mejía, in a report published in EL PAÍS two years ago. “Last time I didn’t vote, but now I do,” recalls this 43-year-old from Mostol.
Not a week went by without the president entering a bar, uploading a photo to her networks, meeting with the industry or winking at the waiters. March 26, 2021 was the highlight. Ayuso posted a 54-second video on her social media. The images showed authentic traditional advertising for cholesterol: eggs, churros, potatoes, beer. Waiters and cooks stood in front of the gate: “Together we can move forward.” “We are more alive than ever.” The video bore the slogan: “Madrid is freedom.” The data is there. The influence of the hospitality industry in Madrid is enormous. If the budget of the entire region exceeds 20,000 million euros, the turnover in the hospitality industry increased by around 16,500 in 2019, that is, before the pandemic.
The anti-smoking law and the PP
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On January 2nd 2011 – January 1st had left for New Year's Eve – he arrived in Spain accompanied by something new. A Spain without smoke in public leisure facilities. The measure was approved unanimously by all parties in Congress. The PP, of course, tabled an amendment months before proposing a smoking area in all bars. It didn't go any further. Months later, and shortly before Mariano Rajoy's arrival in La Moncloa, the PP candidate indicated in an interview on Antena 3 that he was in favor of a change. However, he did not do this.
The number of deaths caused by tobacco consumption in Spain is close According to the Spanish Society of Epidemiology, there are 63,000 deaths annually, 21% of them in people under 65. The PP's last election program from last July only contained an anti-tobacco measure. It is a plan to combat “addictions in children and adolescents”. This is explained in point 170 of the program: “We will act in a network against technology addiction, gambling, alcohol and tobacco consumption, paying particular attention to mental health, promoting healthy habits and protecting minors from pornographic or violent content.”
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