I, like many Spaniards, am grieving for the loss of the right to smoke indoors. It’s strange to see Spaniards huddling in the street smoking... I definitely saw a lot of indignant faces when I returned after New Years.
One of the things that surprised me about Spain when i arrived was the fact that smokers could be marketed to. In fact, a particularly vivid memory is the day I was offered a sample of a new range of cigs in my local tobacco store. I was so shocked that I said no without thinking it through. Plus these stores often run special promos, so if you buy x packs of cigarettes you get something branded like a sports bag (irony much?!)
Whilst I’m not sure how effective the ban will be (the number of smokers in Ireland went up by 2% following the ban – ah the social smoker), I wonder will the next thing to go be the pro- smoking propaganda...
Check out this graffiti from beside one of my local tobacco stores - all the cool kids are doing it :P
