Bar and restaurant owners in Spain, until now one of Europe's most smoker-friendly countries, fear that a ban on smoking in public places that takes effect this weekend will hit them hard and worsen the economic crisis.
The ban, which took effect at midnight, is one of Europe's toughest, stopping smoking in all closed
public spaces and in open spaces such as children's play areas and outside hospitals. Fines for breaking the ban range from a modest €30 to €600,000.
"This will affect our business because people who come here like to have a coffee and a cigarette," said Fidel, a waiter in his 50s in a smoke-filled cafe in Madrid. "It's not the right time to change the law. We can change it when (the economy) improves, not now."
However minister for health Leire Pajin told parliament when the law was approved earlier this month that it should be remembered that 70 per cent of Spaniards are non-smokers. "So it is logical to think they will be more comfortable in bars when there is no tobacco smoke in them," he said.
The Spanish Federation of Hostelry estimates the new law could lead to the loss of up to 350,000 jobs - unemployment is already 20 per cent - as many Spaniards will stay at home rather than go without a cigarette with their coffee or beer in a bar.
At the same time the government, struggling to pay off a huge deficit during an economic slowdown, seems to be hoping the ban will not stop too many Spaniards from smoking.
Last month, among a battery of austerity measures, it announced a rise in tobacco tax which it hopes will bring in an extra €780 million a year.
Spain's Institute of Economic Research estimates bar turnover could fall by 10 per cent as a result of the ban.
The hostelry sector accounts for 7 per cent of gross domestic product and the government, trailing the main opposition party by about 15 points in opinion polls, can ill afford such losses as it struggles to create jobs and revive the economy.
Until now, bar owners could decide whether to allow smoking, depending on the size of their premises, while larger bars and restaurants had to have a designated smoking area.
Similar legislation in Ireland has had a limited economic effect.
Many Spaniards may well be inspired to try to give up smoking, but some, such as 50-year-old barman Julian Escudero, believe any effects will be short-lived or negligible.
"Maybe at the beginning there will be a downturn (in business) but later things will stabilise," he said.
Agencies