Almost 50,000 Catalans gave up smoking in 2021 to reach all-time low of 22.6%
6.6% of non-smokers say they are exposed at home, according to government survey
tobacco
Health minister wants tobacco companies to remove branding from packaging
25.6% of people in Catalonia smoked in 2018, compared to 24% in 2017
Health department intends to ban smoking in private vehicles
Decreasing tobacco consumption and road accidents among reasons for new legislation
Former Catalan Minister from Left-Wing Independence Party ERC condemned for tobacco smuggling
Jordi Ausàs, who was Catalan Minister for Governance and Administration between March 2008 and December 2010, was condemned to 4 years in jail and to pay a €195,000 fine for tobacco trafficking and not paying the corresponding taxes. The Lleida Province's High Court stated on Thursday afternoon that Ausàs had participated in an organised criminal band that was smuggling tobacco through the border between Andorra and Spain since the summer of 2010, when he was in office. Back in 2012, when Ausàs was formally accused, the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) temporarily suspended his party membership until the situation was made clear. The ERC have not issued any official statement at the time of writing this article and Ausàs’ lawyers have not confirmed whether he will appeal the Court's decision.
Quit smoking with Barça and the European Commission
FC Barcelona and the European Commission join forces to help millions of Europeans to give up smoking. The campaign aims at helping 28 million people giving up tobacco. “With this joint action, we aim to help football fans all over Europe to retake control over their health and their lives, encouraging them to be as passionate and committed to their own health as they are to good football” explained FC Barcelona’s President, Sandro Rosell.
The Catalan Oncology Institute gets maximum international distinction for its fight against tobacco
The centre received the ‘Gold Level Award’ from the Global Network for Tobacco Health Care Services, thanks to its fight against the effects of smoking. The jury emphasised the training given to both hospital workers and patients in order to give up smoking and the achievement of a strict non-smoking area in this health centre’s facilities. Only ten hospitals around the world have this distinction, among them another Catalan institution: Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Manresa, in Central Catalonia.
Total smoking ban comes to Catalonia
Smoking is banned in all restaurants and clubs in Spain from the 2nd January 2011. The new law aims to put the state on the same level as other European countries such as the UK