If the proposal approved by the Council of Ministers passes through parliament and comes into force, smoking (traditional or heated tobacco and electronic cigarettes) will be banned in Spain in outdoor spaces such as terraces, transport stops, university campuses, school playgrounds, swimming pools and entertainment venues, among others, said Health Minister Mónica Garcia.

Smoking will also be banned within 15 metres of schools, health centres and hospitals, cultural centres, sports buildings and playgrounds.

The minister said that the new law aims to regulate, for the first time in Spain, “all tobacco-related products”, placing them on an equal footing in anti-smoking measures, based on “scientific evidence”.

Over the last decade, the market has developed new products that are particularly appealing to young people, and “new public health needs” have also emerged, said Mónica Garcia, to justify the new law.

The minister pointed out that 140 people die every day in Spain and 50,000 every year because of tobacco.

In addition to equating traditional tobacco with new nicotine products and extending the areas where smoking is prohibited, the proposal approved by the Spanish Government places new restrictions on advertising and sponsorship and ends the sale of disposable or single-use electronic cigarettes, for environmental reasons and because they are particularly attractive to young people.

The new legislation also provides for the creation of a “smoking prevention observatory”, with contributions from various levels of government (central and regional, the latter with responsibility for health services in Spain).

It will be “an important step in the fight against smoking” and a “profound reform”, argued Mónica Garcia.

“We will regulate forcefully, clearly and always on the basis of scientific evidence,” she stressed, before adding that this change in legislation was designed for the “majority of the population”, non-smokers or those who, being smokers, want to quit tobacco.