{"id":58,"date":"2022-12-01T21:29:06","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T02:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.nyu.edu\/dispatches\/?p=58"},"modified":"2025-01-16T18:01:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T18:01:08","slug":"a-push-for-a-smoke-free-spain-and-the-power-of-the-tobacco-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/2022\/12\/01\/a-push-for-a-smoke-free-spain-and-the-power-of-the-tobacco-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"A push for a smoke free Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Briggs Negr\u00f3n<\/a><\/span>
\nDecember 1, 2022<\/span><\/p>\n

One late October afternoon, at a small tapas bar in Plaza del Rey, a group of young Spaniards sit around an outdoor table laughing and drinking Estella, a popular Spanish beer. One man takes out his pouch of tobacco, pours it into OCB rolling papers, and rolls the combination into a cigarette. He lights up mid-conversation, joining other smokers at nearby tables. At similar cafes and on street corners and in parks and outside office buildings, smokers linger.<\/p>\n

NYU students, used to smoking being frowned upon, are often taken aback by the popularity of smoking in Madrid.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhen I first came here, I was surprised by the influence of tobacco and the smoking culture in Spain and Europe,\u201d said Zach Miller, a junior and Global Liberal Studies major. Another Global Liberal Studies major, JJ Briscoe, echoed this sentiment, adding that the smoke sickened him just being around it.<\/p>\n

\"A
[Credit: Briggs Negr\u00f3n]<\/figcaption><\/figure>While smoking rates in Spain have steadily decreased, a<\/a>ccording to World Bank,<\/a> still, in 2020, about 27.7% of adults in Spain smoke tobacco regularly. This percentage is more than double US smoking rates, \u00a0where about 12.5% of adults are smokers<\/a>. Lung cancer is also the third most frequent cancer in Spain with 29,549 cases in 2021, a<\/a>ccording to El Pais<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So why is smoking so popular in Spain, considering these statistics and health warnings?<\/p>\n

Unlike in the U.S. where children get numerous anti-smoking lessons in school, smoking habits in Spain are normalized, says Andres Zamorano, president of CNPT, an anti-smoking organization. For example, Spaniards throw used cigarette filters on the ground, while they don\u2019t throw plastic or other trash on the floor. A young child seeing this practice becomes accustomed to smoking habits. \u00a0Indeed, a recent ruling<\/a> will require tobacco companies to pay for the cleanup of the millions of cigarette butts that litter streets.<\/p>\n

Misinformation, targeting of younger Spaniards, and political interests of powerful tobacco companies all contribute, says Raquel Megina, president of another anti-smoking organization No Fumador.\u00a0 \u201cWe have a lot of interference from the tobacco industry when it comes to achieving policies to fight this epidemic,\u201d he says. \u201cPhillip Norris pushed back on a campaign for smoke-free terraces and outdoor spaces, saying that it would cause lower patronage and result in unemployment. Actually, it would help business because people spend too long on terraces smoking cigarettes, they lose customers!\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike in the US, where tobacco advertisements must come with a warning<\/a>, and billboard advertisements are not permitted<\/a>, tobacco products are advertised in Spain often and visibly. On almost every street corner in Madrid, there is a tobacco shop with \u201cTabaco\u201d clearly labeled in bright yellow letters. Through the glass, one can see multiple ads on electronic screens detailing offers. A tobacco shop in La Justicia displays an advertisement for Fortuna 23, a cigarette brand, offering a cheaper price if people come and buy the pack at that moment. Blu vapes are displayed prominently in the window. Tobacco and tobacco products also often appear in social media ads, targeting young Spaniards, especially in University and minors.<\/p>\n

Many Spaniards even younger than 18 are beginning to smoke and use vapes, says Andres Zamorano, president of CNPT, an anti-smoking organization. New vapes are promoted in colors and flavors that are geared towards attracting younger Spaniards with flavors like mint, strawberry, and cherry.<\/p>\n

Sitting at a cafe,\u00a0 smoker Joracio admitted that when he came\u00a0 to Spain from Nicaragua in his 20s, he immediately began to smoke \u201cI smoked with my friends; it was just a silly way we socialize.\u201d\u00a0 Another smoker echoed his sentiment. \u201cI would like to quit,\u201d said Natalia Alvarez, \u201cI\u2019ve tried to quit twice, but it\u2019s hard\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Briggs Negr\u00f3n December 1, 2022 One late October afternoon, at a small tapas bar in Plaza del Rey, a group of young Spaniards sit around an outdoor table laughing and drinking Estella, a popular Spanish beer. One man takes out his pouch of tobacco, pours it into OCB rolling papers, and rolls the combination […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trends"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions\/417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyujournalismprojects.org\/dispatches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}