In Paris, they have smoker’s lounges; they are chic stylish places that would not be out of place aboard the S.S France or the RMS Queen Elizabeth. In Holland, there are bars where you can now smoke, recently Greece too relaxed their smoking laws again. The latest country to realise that smokers are human beings is Spain.
In Alicante, they have opened a smoker’s club, which currently has around 200 members, it is the first of its kind in Spain and reputedly it is doing well. It has also raised the ire of some of the ex-pats who live as guests in Spain as some of the comments show.
An apparently unpredicted problem with the Spanish smoking legislation has also come up, as it did with ours. Some people are now objecting to the increased noise levels outside of bars and clubs where smokers are, by law, forced to stand outside to smoke. Of course, the neighbours are entitled to some peace and quiet and it is unfortunate that smoking legislation disrupts their tranquillity but there is now a solution to the problem.
All they need to do is open more smoker’s clubs like the one in Alicante; it will get the smokers off the streets and restore harmony with the neighbours. It may also encourage the smoking tourist to once again sample the delights of Spain and that is good for the tourism industry, good for the bars, good for Spain, the smokers and of course the neighbours.
Someone has just pushed over the first domino in the chain.
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