Walter Finch
A NEW proposal to ban smoking and vaping in terraces could provoke fights between smokers and bar staff, a Mallorca hospitality chief has warned.
The controversial plan would see a return of the strict nationwide Covid regulations that were only lifted in Mallorca in July this year, on an island where 26% of the population smokes.
And it came under swift attack from bosses in the restaurant sector, who argued they would be the ones to have to enforce an unreasonable policy.
“The ban will create difficult situations between our staff and our own customers who are smoking,” said Cesar Amable, the president of PIMEM Restauració.
“Everything that involves restricting our customers’ freedoms is complicated.
“Inside the restaurant, the ban is understandable because of children and the unpleasantness, but outside it’s different.”
Meanwhile, Alfonso Robledo, the president of Restauración Mallorca, blasted the proposal from new health minister Monica Garcia as ‘banning for the sake of banning.’
The potential smoking ban in outdoor areas like bar and restaurant terraces would mean that the Balearic’s smokers would have enjoyed – along with Valencia – the shortest respite from outdoor bans in all of Spain.
About 15% of bars and restaurants with terraces (including notable ones like Bar Bosch) continued the ban voluntarily after it was lifted in July, encouraged by the Balearic Cancer Association (AECC).
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