The new regulations regarding tobacco consumption that the central government intends to implement starting next year, the current project that establishes the prohibition of smoking in any closed place for public use, such as workplaces, bars, restaurants, educational establishments, shops, and transportation stations, seems to be causing real headaches for the owners of bars, restaurants, and public centers.
The vice president of the Lanzarote Tourist Business Federation (AETUR) and president of the Federation of Bars and Restaurants of the island of Lanzarote, Victoriano Elvira, has expressed as a spokesperson for the sector the discomfort among members regarding this new anti-tobacco law concerning its consumption inside this type of establishment, and which is about to come into effect from January 1, 2006.
A "sectarian" law
"This law worries us. Proof of this is the meeting we held last week at the headquarters of Aetur with a significant number of business owners, and the ones we will continue to hold these days to inform them of the new regulations and the changes to which their premises will have to adapt," said Elvira.
The president of the Federation of Bars and Restaurants of the Island explained, in statements to the Balcón al Mar program of Radio Lanzarote, that this is a "sectarian" law, "which aims to achieve respect for the non-smoking person, but which, in some cases, I would say does not respect the smoker."
The business leader did not go into assessing the law itself, but made it clear that with the new regulations "the inconveniences that may be caused to small business owners especially have not been taken into account."
The new Law will depend on the Ministry of Health, which in principle will place various inspectors strategically located in case a sanction is necessary. In addition, it obliges certain companies to enable two separate spaces, one for smokers and one for non-smokers.
The distinction of 100 meters
"It is complicated, since it has not been taken into account that premises with more than 100 square meters of surface area will necessarily have to modify their organizational space."
These obligatory works to separate one area from the other "will reduce in most cases the extension of the premises themselves, will entail the installation of outlets or extractions for the smoke, and many times that intended dissociation between some and other clients will not be achieved, since by not exceeding those 100 square meters too much, in many establishments there will be no way for the smoke not to reach non-smokers."
According to the words of Victoriano Elvira, "almost all the premises on the island of Lanzarote are between 80 and 200 meters, so we are talking about a very important amount" of establishments in which by law they must be enabled according to the new norm.
As for bars and public centers whose surface area does not exceed those mentioned 100 meters, in those cases it will be the owners themselves who decide whether to allow tobacco consumption or not inside them.
Possible losses have not been taken into account
During the formalization of the law, which is still a project to which new allegations may or may not be added, "at least it has been achieved that the business owners of premises of less than 100 meters are the ones who decide. Of course, if they allow tobacco consumption, they must do so with certain indications regarding measures, locations within the premises, and very specific amounts."
Therefore, this law could "benefit small businesses and non-smoking people, but never large establishments," said Elvira.
The Anti-Tobacco Law has been requested by various technicians related to the health branch throughout Spain, with Román Rodríguez himself, former president of the Government of the Canary Islands, participating, one of those who have claimed it in the Islands. However, in the opinion of Victoriano Elvira, "the more than possible losses that the bar and restaurant sector will now have to face have not been taken into account."
Sanctions, and adaptation
Although in principle they hope that the new law will not mean the closure of any premises, as they assure that they will try to adapt to the new norm in whatever way, the hospitality business owners of Lanzarote do foresee clear economic losses.
On the other hand, the sector has requested an adaptation period so that the law does not start operating with all its restrictions and sanctions from January 1, but for the moment Health has not commented on it.
Other restrictions
This adaptation period is also due to the fact that another of the novelties for the group of bars and restaurants will consist of the prohibition of entry to minors, an extreme that business owners have not welcomed either due to the loss of adult clients that this could entail, along with the discomfort over a new panorama in which minors under 18 years of age would be excluded from family parties and other celebrations such as weddings.
In addition, Elvira considered that the restrictions regarding the location that tobacco vending machines must have from 2006 will also cause the sector to lose a certain amount of business.
Apart from business costs, the president of the Federation of Bars and Restaurants of Lanzarote trusted that among the inconveniences that this adaptation will entail for the bars, there will not be an exaggerated loss of clients. "What I do hope is that citizens behave civilly and respect each other, although I fear that in many cases the owner of the premises will find himself between a rock and a hard place," he concluded.
