Sidewalk Smokers’ Haven Threatened in Barcelona

For many visitors, experiencing Barcelona’s vibrant tapas and cafe culture involves more than just savoring delectable small plates and cortados – it’s about leisurely puffing on a cigarette amidst the sunny, convivial atmosphere of an outdoor terrace.

If hitting Barcelona’s top attractions like the Sagrada Familia and Barceloneta Beach is on your bucket list, unwinding over drinks and smokes at a charming sidewalk patio may seem like the perfect counterpoint.

However, those idyllic smoke-filled terrace moments could soon go up in vapor. A potential new ban looms that would prohibit smoking on outdoor dining patios and terraces throughout Catalonia, Barcelona’s home region.

As reported by Catalan News, the plan remains on the agenda of Catalan health minister Manel Balcells, who told La Vanguardia, “I think we should [bring in a ban]…We are moving forward with modifying the current law to regulate tobacco use on terraces and inside vehicles.”

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This proposed legislation would expand on Spain’s 2011 nationwide ban that outlawed smoking in all enclosed public spaces like restaurants, bars, and cafes.

More recently, Barcelona barred smoking on beaches with fines for violators. Balcells cites protecting non-smokers from secondhand smoke as the key reason for further restricting where citizens can light up.

For barceloneses and visitors alike who enjoy merging their tapeo (bar crawl) with some nicotine, these smoking crackdowns represent an existential threat to a longstanding cultural tradition.

A sunny cortado just doesn’t seem complete without the accompanying curl of smoke.

However, the growing global momentum against public smoking seems to be leaving fewer and fewer havens for those seeking to indulge their habits amid open-air dining scenes.

Alfresco puffers in Barcelona may ultimately have their final drags relegated to private residences or designated smoking cubby holes.

For now, the city’s charming terraces remain a temporary refuge where smokers can pair their rioja with a cigarette amid the Mediterranean breezes.

But that could change at any moment, so smokers would be wise to savor those terrace drag sessions while they can amid Barcelona’s eternally photogenic vistas.