Bar & restaurant owners want to postpone smoking ban in Mallorca

The ban is due to be imposed for early 2011 in Mallorca. However the Mallorca Restaurateurs Association has now spoken up, asking for the ban to be postponed at least until the economic crisis is over.

The association has stressed that it is against "a total ban now," but it shares "the ultimate goal of a smoke-free hostelry", and it feels that this needs to be achieved over time. Their stance was announced in a statement issued on the day before Congress meets to debate the bill to ban smoking in 360,000 restaurants, cafes, bars and restaurants throughout Spain. 

There have been several attempts in the past to ban smoking on the island, however as it has never been enforced, proprietors, staff and customers have for the most part, managed to ignore it. One of the biggest complaints about the ban from the proprietor’s point of view is that most of them complied with legislation a couple for years ago to make sure they had enough ventilation to deal with smoke from cigarettes. A lot of owners invested a great deal of money into effective ventilation only to discover that their money will have been wasted if the ban is implemented.

An additional problem that small alleyway bars (such as those in the La Lonja area) face is the difficulty of obtaining a terrace license. This is not currently possible in La Lonja. Graninne O’Malley, manager of O’Brien’s bar in La Lonja says that it is hard enough trying to keep customers from taking a drink outside on the road, let alone if there is a smoking ban that forces customers onto the street where they can’t take their drinks with them.

O’Brien’s and similar bars in the area are worried that it will kill their business by forcing customers to go to bars and restaurants that have terrace licences. Surveys have shown that whilst 30% of Spaniards smoke, 70% of the population are in favour of the ban.