× Omicron variant: European country bans Christmas markets, public drinking in bid to combat COVID-19 wave
What if you had the pleasure of sitting in on a Peruvian Christmas market while holding a single bottle of water and a couple of cans of Coca-Cola?
As is the case with many, you’d probably say “HOLY SHIT.” However, when that Peruvian market was in Barcelona, it may have been a bit more practical to just have a glass of water, and two cans of Coca-Cola.
By the end of 2018, the Spanish city will bar people from exchanging cash for drinks at its Christmas markets. In an official city-declared “Strategy for the prevention of tobacco-related disease and premature death,” public smoking will be banned in public venues during the holiday season.
To put the ban in perspective, in 2016, Spanish researchers discovered that one in four women under the age of 19 was taking up smoking — a rise that was quite staggering considering the rate was less than 10 percent just 10 years ago.
In 2016, according to Spanish researchers, one in four women under the age of 19 was taking up smoking.
According to the Smoking Control Directive, the aim of the smoking ban is to make public spaces and common areas unenforceable for people with their fags.
(It should be noted that the ban includes the principle of “non-intrusive smoking” by smoking lounges, but not bistros or other licensed premises that offer customers the ability to smoke.)