Algarve concessionaires agree to ban smoking on beaches

Beach concessionaires in the city of Quarteira in the Algarve, as well as their clients, agree to the smoke-free nature of these holiday destinations, following other locations that already have smoking and non-smoking areas.

A new proposal for a tobacco law submitted by the government, which entered parliament on May 26, provides for a ban on smoking on sea, river and lake beaches (lakes) by decision of the management, administration or concessionaire, among other things.

“We are here in the open air. I think that the same situation happened with cafe terraces. The population had a little shock, but eventually people joined in,” says Thiago Duro, who owns the Minha Praia concession in Quarteira.

As to the possibility that a future law would place the decision to ban smoking on the owner of the concession, Thiago Duro indicates that he “will adhere to the ban”.

“As you can see, a concession is an open space. People, if they want, just walk a few meters forward or backward and end up smoking a cigarette,” he explains.

For this professional, the solution “turns out to everyone’s liking”, since there are many families with children in the territory of his concession who rent “huts” and sun loungers.

“Look at the case of other countries that ended up reducing smoking rates with these bans, right? I think it works,” emphasizes Thiago Duro.

If there is any resistance, the concessionaire demands “common sense” and “give the floor to the buyer” in the sense of a polite request to smoke outside the concession area: “That’s it, and I think the staff is ultimately in favor of joining,” he says.

Thiago Duro recalls that there were cases when families with children asked to change their “palhota” because they smoked in the neighborhood.

As for the impact of this measure, the concessionaire believes that it will be “positive” in the long run.

Nearby, Christophe Pontes is the concessionaire at Praia Alegre, and he also agrees that the decision to ban customers from smoking should be up to him.

“I think the worst thing about people smoking in a concession is not smoking. The problem here is cigarette butts in the sand. What was good was that no one smoked on the entire beach. If they wanted to smoke, they would leave the beach. smoke their cigarettes and keep the beach clean,” he says, defending that it would be the “perfect” solution.

Christophe Pontes believes that smokers are a minority in the space allotted to him, and believes that this issue should be treated in the same way as in the case of restaurants, where smokers should not interfere with non-smokers.

Beach concession customers also agree to the non-smoking policy in these recreational areas.

“I am against people smoking, especially if they are here, next to us,” says Vitalia Reis, a Portuguese immigrant living in France and vacationing in Quarteira.

“If they don’t smoke it’s better for them [os fumadores] and for us,” he emphasizes.

The Brazilian, who works in London and vacations in the Algarve, also has no doubt that “the ban is the right thing to do.”

“I also have a small child and I wouldn’t want him to inhale cigarette smoke here on the beach,” he defends, still criticizing smokers for throwing “all butts here on the ground.”

Under the proposed law, smoking would also be banned in certain places, such as public swimming pools and water parks, as the government says they are places of entertainment and frequented by minors and their families.

With this bill, the government intends to eliminate “the exceptions currently provided for in the law on the prohibition of smoking in closed places of collective use”, but to maintain those that cover mental health services, treatment and rehabilitation centers for people with addiction and addictive behavior. and prisons.

With regard to access to tobacco, the ban on the sale of tobacco will be extended to sports venues, swimming pools and water parks, concert halls and venues, entertainment venues, bingo halls, casinos and game rooms, as well as other types of venues intended for performances of nature, non-art and music festivals, and home delivery or street vendors.

The sale of tobacco through vending machines located less than 300 meters from establishments for persons under 18 years of age, educational institutions and training centers, as well as the sale of cigarettes and cigarillos by the piece after opening the respective packages, is currently prohibited.

Contrary to what was originally announced by the government, the diploma handed over to Parliament no longer provides for a ban on the sale of tobacco at gas stations, a change that Health Minister Manuel Pizarro justified on the grounds that there were no alternatives to purchase. in many places.

The diploma estimates that over 100,000 tobacco-related deaths in Portugal over the past decade, and warns that “all types of tobacco are unhealthy and there is no safe level of exposure.”