Beaches without smoke, without cigarette butts and without vaping devices to preserve the health of people and also of the environment. The Tobacco Working Group of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology , of which the Dr. Cristina Martinez , head of the Tobacco Control Unit, has requested that all beaches in the country become 100% smoke-free spaces. He has made this known to the Ministry of Health through a series of allegations in the draft of the new anti-smoking law.
The group of experts has warned that in Europe, beaches have been identified as one of the outdoor spaces with a high concentration of people smoking. In these spaces, depending on the direction of the wind or the number of people smoking, ambient tobacco smoke concentrations can reach levels similar to those in enclosed places where there are smokers. This, in addition to violating the right of the population to breathe clean air, contributes to normalizing tobacco consumption and facilitating its initiation among the younger population . In addition, involuntary exposure to this smoke causes more than 1.3 million deaths worldwide each year.
On the other hand, the consumption of tobacco products not only has an impact on health, but also on the environment . Cigarette butts are the most common individual waste on coasts around the world, and each one can contaminate up to 500 liters of water, being highly toxic and non-biodegradable. Their accumulation, therefore, contributes to coastal pollution, damaging marine ecosystems and generating significant cleaning costs for municipalities, in addition to having a negative impact on tourism.
A state legislation
After the entry into force of Law 7/2022 on waste and contaminated soil for a circular economy, more than 790 Spanish beaches have been declared ‘smoke-free’ by their respective municipalities. However, these initiatives do not have state regulatory support to guarantee their compliance . For this reason, the SEE considers it essential to move towards state legislation that consolidates this approach, which is also aligned with several Sustainable Development Goals. And, in this sense, it supports the petition promoted by organizations such as Nofumadores.org and signed by more than 380,000 people who demand that the Ministry of Health ban smoking on beaches.
The SEE also requests a ban on discarding cigarette butts and vaping devices – whether or not they contain nicotine – on beaches, signage of the ban, the launch of information campaigns, as well as promoting coordination between public administrations to guarantee the uniform application of the measure, respecting municipal powers.
The experience of other countries
This regulation has already been implemented in other countries such as France , which has declared more than 7,200 recreational spaces smoke-free – including beaches – by 2025 through national regulations. The Netherlands and Sweden have also made progress in this direction, strengthening the legislative framework to achieve a “tobacco-free generation”.
These smoke-free beach policies have been shown to be effective in reducing tobacco use: a study conducted in Barcelona during the 2021 bathing season evaluated a municipal intervention that banned smoking on four beaches through decree, signage and awareness campaigns. The results showed a significant reduction in both the perception of people smoking (from 87.2% to 49.7%) and the direct observation of smokers (70% reduction), compared to non-intervened beaches.
New York also implemented a law banning smoking on beaches and parks, which showed substantial decreases in the presence of tobacco residue and in the observed prevalence of smokers. These experiences are examples that such policies can be effective and sustainable over time.
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