Daniel Somolinos Madrid
Madrid
Updated Friday, March 15, 2024-22:57
"A problem is being created
where there was none
... Altering a coexistence that is now perfect, putting the focus on a space, outdoors, where if a client complains about the smoke there is no discussion:
the smoker apologizes and "He retires so as not to disturb
."
With these words, José Antonio Aparicio, president of Hostelería Madrid, shows his disagreement with the latest project of the Ministry of Health.
From this portfolio, headed by Mónica García, they presented this week the draft of their Comprehensive Tobacco Prevention and Control Plan (PIT) to the Autonomous Communities.
A conglomerate of "abstract ideas, without adopting any concrete measures", which the Madrid Health Department has dubbed "
a ceremony of confusion
".
That document talked about prohibiting smoking in "certain outdoor community and social spaces."
This point has been received with profound rejection by the hospitality sector, which sees that behind those words
lies a veto on cigarettes on their terraces.
"It's quite negative. You've already banned it indoors, if you now veto this... They will end up consuming at home,
with the economic blow that it will mean
for the sector," said yesterday Juanjo Cuenta, manager of the Richelieu bar, who estimates that it has 18 tables. on the terrace of your premises.
And he adds: "In my case, they reduced it by 20% a month and a half ago.
We suffered blow after blow
."
It's not the only one.
Other hoteliers consulted by GRANMADRID agree that it would not be fair, for the social smoker who only "consumes two or three cigarettes a week while having a coffee or a drink", to deprive him of that moment and "cut him off, annoying him
that moment along with his friends
."
All of them are supported by the Madrid Hospitality association, who considers that "the generalized ban on smoking on outdoor terraces, recently announced by those responsible for the Ministry of Health,
is inappropriate and disproportionate
."
In the mouth of its president, Aparicio tells EL MUNDO that these disagreements are shared with the rest of the Autonomies.
Under the mantra of "
disproportionate measures generate disorderly leisure
", and despite knowing that the proposal has not yet been approved, they prefer to make their position very clear as a precaution.
"The situation is now quite controlled. It is the smokers themselves who leave so as not to disturb. The dichotomy
between interior space and terraces was already more than clear
, leaving the latter perceived as areas where smoking can be done since it is strictly prohibited inside," he maintains. Apparition.
This spokesperson is, in turn, a businessman with a restaurant with a terrace in the capital, and fears that this measure, if it goes ahead, "could generate a problem in payment management."
"If people continually get up from the terraces...
Someone will take the opportunity to leave without paying.
The employee, who is coming and going, would not be able to pay attention to everything."
As this newspaper has learned, and after the common front and the "solid arguments" that the Ministry of Health has encountered, an idea has begun to gain weight at the table of the Interterritorial Council: that each establishment,
freely , decide whether or not to allow smoking on your terraces
.
"We would support it. The same thing happens with pets, it is each bar that determines whether to let them enter or not. The most sensible thing is for each one to make their decision," Aparicio concludes.