The latest war of the Iberian peninsula, is a smokey one! "La guerra de los cigarillos" they call it. The cigarette war!
[Main front. Bars and restaurants]
...where you may still smoke although it is frowned upon by the official state. Actually there are signs everywhere discouraging smokers. I saw a sign saying "Not smoking makes coffee taste better" in a cafeteria in Barcelona. Well, I am not a smoker but I find it hard to believe myself. I always envied the happy looks on the faces of smokers when they are enjoing a cigarette with a cup of coffee. Bar and restaurant owners are strictly advised to discourage smokers but they are free to allow smoking if they want to. Of course they ALL DO allow it. So now the minister of health, a fierce anti-smoker, says it may be time to start prohibitions throughout what is considered one of Europe 's most liberal countries...
[Western Front. The tobacco stores]
Great tobacco companies like Philip Morris and British American tobacco have decided to effectively lower the prices of cigarettes in Spain, in order to compensate for the losses they have after the hard-determined anti-smoke campain of the state. The companies imposed the tobacconists all over the country to sell cigarettes even cheaper than they had initially bought them. The sellers went mad and choose not to sell, today they went on strike and closed most of the stores leaving many smokers in distress...
[Note to greek readers: OF COURSE it is unthinkable for tobacconists to keep selling in the old prices. This would be unacceptable here, although in Greece I guess it would be the easiest way to solve the problem]
[Eastern Front. The French border]
Prices fall, fever rises! Hundreds of french cross the spanish borders everyday to take advantage of cheap cigarettes sold in Spain at prices, which sometimes reach less than half the french ones. Cars trunks are packed with packets, vans are borrowed from friends to carry the valuable herb enclosed in cylindrical bars of joy into french territory. No spirit of "contrabandieures" here. The EU laws allow it. So stores in the french side only sell newspapers and magazines, while the spanish ones get relieved of all their stocks. On the other hand, tobacconists in the spanish mainland accuse their colleagues at the frontline of bad union practice, but still, the colour of the money is the same across european borders and hard to resist.
[Smoking in Catalunya]
This is still not a problem here. I was in a bar yesterday where smoking was considered to be something like a club rule. Of course I did not feel at all awkward with no smoking and since two saxophone, one trumpet, one bass and one drum players at breathing distance had no problem with it, I had none myself.
To all not-tolerant passive smokers : Allow people to have their vices or else the vices will turn against you.
in a few words...
[Main front. Bars and restaurants]
...where you may still smoke although it is frowned upon by the official state. Actually there are signs everywhere discouraging smokers. I saw a sign saying "Not smoking makes coffee taste better" in a cafeteria in Barcelona. Well, I am not a smoker but I find it hard to believe myself. I always envied the happy looks on the faces of smokers when they are enjoing a cigarette with a cup of coffee. Bar and restaurant owners are strictly advised to discourage smokers but they are free to allow smoking if they want to. Of course they ALL DO allow it. So now the minister of health, a fierce anti-smoker, says it may be time to start prohibitions throughout what is considered one of Europe 's most liberal countries...
[Western Front. The tobacco stores]
Great tobacco companies like Philip Morris and British American tobacco have decided to effectively lower the prices of cigarettes in Spain, in order to compensate for the losses they have after the hard-determined anti-smoke campain of the state. The companies imposed the tobacconists all over the country to sell cigarettes even cheaper than they had initially bought them. The sellers went mad and choose not to sell, today they went on strike and closed most of the stores leaving many smokers in distress...
[Note to greek readers: OF COURSE it is unthinkable for tobacconists to keep selling in the old prices. This would be unacceptable here, although in Greece I guess it would be the easiest way to solve the problem]
[Eastern Front. The French border]
Prices fall, fever rises! Hundreds of french cross the spanish borders everyday to take advantage of cheap cigarettes sold in Spain at prices, which sometimes reach less than half the french ones. Cars trunks are packed with packets, vans are borrowed from friends to carry the valuable herb enclosed in cylindrical bars of joy into french territory. No spirit of "contrabandieures" here. The EU laws allow it. So stores in the french side only sell newspapers and magazines, while the spanish ones get relieved of all their stocks. On the other hand, tobacconists in the spanish mainland accuse their colleagues at the frontline of bad union practice, but still, the colour of the money is the same across european borders and hard to resist.
[Smoking in Catalunya]
This is still not a problem here. I was in a bar yesterday where smoking was considered to be something like a club rule. Of course I did not feel at all awkward with no smoking and since two saxophone, one trumpet, one bass and one drum players at breathing distance had no problem with it, I had none myself.
To all not-tolerant passive smokers : Allow people to have their vices or else the vices will turn against you.
in a few words...
Se prohibe prohibir!
Guten Tag sin-ipotrofe...Vlepw pws ipekipses ki esi sti moda tou blogging...Kala na pernas kai molis vreis xrono, xrima kai oreksi perna kai apo ta meri mas :)
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