C.M.W..MaóThe anti-smoking law introduced earlier in the year will become fully effective on 1st September. By that date all establishments of more than 100 sq. metres will have to provide a separate area for non-smokers.
According to Bartomeu Jaume Roig, a regional government co-ordinator, the majority of businesses in the Balearic Islands have already adapted to the law´s requirements, thanks to the regional regulation which was introduced six months before the state legislation.
Last week the Menorcan Hoteliers´ Association, ASHOME, recommended to their clients that smoking be totally prohibited in their establishments, but later amended this to suggesting a balance between smokers and non-smokers, within the law´s requirements, so that hoteliers would not be open to official complaints from their clients and subsequent heavy fines.
The problem faced by the establishment owners is that, even at this late stage, the Government still has to specify how the smoking and non-smoking areas are to be separated.
A possible solution that would require little in the way of structural alterations is that adopted in Valencia where "air curtains" have been introduced; an air-conditioning sysem which extracts stale air and requires no structural work. The hoteliers believe that this system could be used in conjunction with screens which would separate the areas and could also hide the machinery necessary for the air-conditioning system.
The head of ASHOME, Juan Juanico, says that the association does not want smokers to think that they cannot come to Menorca on holiday because smoking is prohibited, but has warned members that, from 1st September, they may be denounced by clients if they allow smoking.
The association points out that hoteliers will have serious problems in adapting to the law´s requirements and providing two separate areas, one for smokers and the other for non-smokers, especially in the middle of the tourist season.
