Vienna (AFP)

It's the end of an Austrian exception: smokers can no longer "grill one" in cafes and restaurants in the country, forced to ban cigarettes from Friday under anti-smoking legislation that has put years to impose.

Austria is one of the last European countries to ban smoking in catering establishments while almost a quarter of the country's population of 8.8 million is smokers, above the European average (18%).

For the entry into force of the measure, at midnight, several bars in Vienna had organized "evenings last cigarette", some even offer cigarettes at will.

In July, Parliament passed a restrictive anti-smoking law, banning tobacco consumption in establishments of less than 50m2, which until now could have been entirely smokers. Separate smoking areas that cafes and restaurants could have should also be removed.

Only the far-right party FPÖ opposed this measure, which was adopted after the party had to leave the government in May following a corruption scandal. Before that, the FPÖ had forced its conservative ally Sebastian Kurz to give up the ban on tobacco.

A petition signed by nearly 900,000 people on the contrary claimed that Austria ceases to be "the ashtray of Europe".

By presenting itself as one who defends "freedom to smoke", the FPÖ was part of a long tradition.

Empress Maria Theresa had established a tobacco monopoly in 1764, which will not be completely broken until ... 2001, when the government privatized the company Austria Tabak, one of the jewels of its industry , remained market leader until 2016.

The last cigarette manufacturing plant closed in 2011 and its employees have long been proud of smoking "Made in Austria", with local brands like "Memphis" or "Smart".

The package still costs an average of 5 euros in Vienna, a price much lower than in most European countries. Austria is the only one of 35 OECD countries where the proportion of smokers has not decreased since the 1970s and the share of smokers is the highest in the EU.

According to an Austrian expert in health and smoking, the law should spare 623 hospitalizations from the first week of its entry into force. The number of infarctions should subsequently decrease by 15% and that of respiratory inflammations by 24%.

© 2019 AFP