Spanish Smoking Ban Worse Than Apartheid!

The Smoking Ban Busybody Brigade has arrived in Spain! Let’s see how this works out in a country that has had dictatorship stuffed down their throats for decades and just barely have begun to get adjusted to the concept of personal freedom!

I am living in rural Andalucía where the Spanish bars are rough and ready and you still throw your cigarettes on the floor and step on them. (At least until the 2nd of January 2011).

The Pedro’s, Antonio’s and Paco’s of the small villages who are accustomed to live their social life on the bars and cafés enjoying a chat, a tapas, a cerveza, a game and a cigarette are suddenly finding themselves criminalized from one day to another for doing something, that has been acceptable all their life.

I think Zapato's government is in a bit of a spot. They know what is considered politically correct, and they want to put the country in line with the European Union's strictest anti-smoking nations.

With one hand they are introducing a very strict smoking ban, which I presume is to please the European Union, as Spain are facing bankruptcy and are queuing up to be bailed out by the EU.

Zapato's government insist the new law is necessary as they blame smoking for 55,000 related deaths a year.

On the other hand it is obvious that they really don’t want too many people to stop smoking as they announced a rise in tobacco tax just last month which they hope will bring in an extra €780 million a year!

I don’t believe for one minute that the reason for the smoking ban has to do with health. If that was the case why not ban the use of alcohol, all the toxic colored candy for children, fattening food, perfume in public places or why not ban petrol and let cars run on water (Which has been possible for a number of years now)?

No my concern is focused on something entirely different! What kind of a world do we want to live in?

I resent having the Busybody Brigade telling me, and more than 30 percent of the Spanish population, what we can and cannot do in our personal life.

I resent not having a choice. There is plenty of room for both smokers and non smokers in this world.

I resent the “Nanny” or “Big Brother Mentality”.

I resent being criminalized and marked as “socially unfit to enter a restaurant or a bar”.

This is worse than apartheid…because we as smokers are left with nowhere to socialize! At least in South Africa both parties had a bench to sit on and a restaurant to go to!

And I resent the second-hand-citizen-feel that some of my fellow smokers seem to accept and adapt without a drop of resistance.

When Law becomes injust ….resistance becomes a duty!