Search
Recommended Products
Related Links


 

 

Informative Articles

Car Sickness - 15 Ways to Prevent Car Sickness
I have been travelling on long car trips ever since I was a young kid, mostly because it was cheaper for our family of 6 than flying, but also because I happen to live in, what I believe to be, the most wonderful place in the world,...

No more Smoking in Spain
Every year thousands of people give up smoking, if not for the obvious health reasons but also because it burns a hole in your pocket. Some might be motivated by the thought of using the extra cash for flying back and forwards to Spain during...

The Benefits Of Markhor Hunting In Pakistan
The northern areas of Pakistan contain the highest concentration of peaks and longest glaciers outside the polar region. This is where the world’s 3 greatest mountain chains collide the Karakorams, Hindukush and the Himalayas. Emanating out...

The Water Birds of East Africa
Birding is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the world. In America, bird watchers rose from 21 m in 1982, to an astonishing 68 million in 2000. In the US, birding is now the second most popular outdoor recreation after gardening. Technology...

Vienna - the jewel of Austria
Vienna has long been renowned as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, with good reason. The architecture is magnificent, there are abundant gardens, and it's a pedestrian's paradise. Getting out on foot with a good map is the best way to view...

 
Google
No more Smoking in Spain

Every year thousands of people give up smoking, if not for the obvious health reasons but also because it burns a hole in your pocket. Some might be motivated by the thought of using the extra cash for flying back and forwards to Spain during the year. I am sure that some might even find that if they put away the money that they would have spent on cigarettes; within a few years they could have the deposit for another off-plan!

With careful planning and a bit of research by the end of February, you could use the funds to fly out to Spain to check up on the progress of your current off plan investment. However, for the newly ex-smoker, two months is still early days and Spain, whose national sport is smoking, might offer too much temptation.

We have all been there in a Spanish restaurant, savouring a great fish dish, when your swordfish is suddenly infused with essence of tobacco. It doesn't matter how you position yourself on your seat, try moving but there's no escape. Why? Because it's all around. Everybody is doing it, puffing in synchrony. Cough and wave all you like, nobody cares. You're in Spain where smoking is a "healthy" part of socialising and the unsociable, non-smoker freak is ignored.

However, times are changing. Or rather, new laws, which came into effect on the 1st January, are enforcing changes. For a start, after years of leaving the bank smelling like an ashtray, smoking has been banned in the workplace. Those of you bothered by smoke when eating out take your tape measure out with you and make


sure you book tables in restaurants bigger than 100 square metres in size. It is in bars and restaurants of this size, that owners are legally obliged to create designated non-smoking areas.

Again, those of you disgusted by the stench of smoke which tends to be absorbed by hair and clothes will be relieved to know that the ban has been extended to lifts, cash machines, bus stations, trains and ferries.

The objective of the law is to protect the rights of those once ignored non-smokers and support those trying to quit. Those who break it face fines of up to 600 Euros. Nevertheless, this calls for a cultural change as smoking is an integral part of the Spanish lifestyle and is not yet considered unfashionable as it is in the UK and US. Also, bearing in mind that they lived under a dictatorship for many years, the Spanish are hardly going to take kindly to being told what to do again.

So, if you new ex-smokers are planning to come out in a couple of month's time I can't guarantee that Spain will be temptation free, although you might stand a better chance of avoiding it than in the past. Just don't be tempted by the cheap cartons!

About the author:

Susan Pedalino is Masters Degree qualified in Intercultural Communication and teaching English as a foreign language. Susan regularly writes for www.eyeonspain.com, the Spanish off plan property forums website and www.eyeonworldwide, the overseas property forums website.