There appears to be rebellion in Spain against the smoking ban. Faced with austerity measures for the sake of stabilising international markets, the authorities there couldn't let the public take solace in a smoke and a drink, but the austerity measures had to include a ban on public smoking too. There are reports that some licensees will not enforce the law.
The unhappiness shows itself in a fight over smoking, resulting in a hotelier needing stitches. I remember hearing about a bar tender in Leith who was hit by a glass in the early days of the ban in Scotland: reported here. Such incidents have been rare in Scotland, at least not widely reported. A landlord in Bolton was rewarded by a broken leg for enforcing the smoking ban. Bar staff should not have been used to police a ban against their customers that must have been soul-destroying for thousands of people on both sides of the bar.
Feelings about watching Spain go through what we've already been through are inexpressible ... their ban is worse because it applies to certain outdoor areas.
The Dutch example could help them. What can the rest of us do?
7 comments:
....and not forgetting the Turkish bar owner shot within days of their ban being implemented. Funny how that has been seriously 'hushed up' since!
Think I missed that one, handymanphil!
You just wonder Belinda if the Spanish Government has been talking to our bunch of witless cabbage heads, because the Spanish ban is perhaps even more draconian than ours. It seems governments concerned with imposing these bans are trying to see who can be the toughest on their people. They must be getting brownie points from the EU.
Yours is a better post than mine...I need more practice.
JJ, More like bucket loads of Euro's from the EU as bribery rather than brownie points.
Seeing from here in the US, watching the competition between states and cities on some of these bans and prohibitions, I certainly do believe they conference one another from behind closed doors and plot out strategies to edge a little bit further, first in one city, call it a "success", then hurry it into the next, back and forth between the coasts.
I also heard about a small city in the deep south, where smoking is as cherished a right as owning a firearm, and in that city, it was the Mayor of Boston who reportedly called the mayor of this small southern town and explicitly told him to create a smoking ban, which he did before the month was ended.
The way the governments in NYC, LA, SF and other "progressive" held cities are behaving these days, I feel most certain they are plotting this out behind closed doors.
In EU, if Spain has gone one more draconian than UK, then more than likely it's to test the waters, see how people react and once they know the reactions, they will be able to program the propaganda in other EU "zones" to implement outdoor bans, overnight, with the snap of a finger.
The Spanish Finance Minister looked to smokers to help bail the country out by raising taxes. Then the Health Minister kicks the same smokers out on the street.
Marbella restaurant owner starts petition against Spain's anti-smoking law
The UK Licensed Trade Organisations should show support for their colleagues in SPAIN.
http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_28621.shtml?
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