To smoke, or not to smoke … & a bit of footie
With the new year approaching rapidly, the time to think about quitting smoking as a new year resolution has come to the fore, one reason being the change in the law due that affects bars, cafes & restaurants, due to come into force in January 2008.
Portugal has a high average for the number of smokers. In 2005, around 31% of the male population were smokers, showing a small decline over recent years (32.8% in 1998). Women smokers were on the increase, up from 9.5% to 10.3% over the same period.
Apparently, 55% of those smokers intend to quit.
A bar owner explained to me last night his dilemma in the situation, saying that the total ban that has come into force in several European countries should have been the model for the new Portuguese law, and not the half baked measures now proposed. The bar in question has no outside seating area, and if he banned smoking he would lose all his smoking customers to the bar up the road. If he allows smoking, it will cost several thousand euros for the smoke extraction equipment and installation required by law, a price he cannot justify, and possibly not afford.
The madeira4u blog & news research team is going to go to great lengths and expense to research the situation further, with a visit to a European country that has recently introduced a total ban on smoking in pubs & restaurants. There, between beers, we will sample the smoke free air in many establishments, and report back on the effects the ban has had on businesses, customers, and smokers in general. This is expected to be a tough assignment, spending long hours in real live situations, but we think you madeira4u blog readers are worth the trouble and expense, and deserve real quality on-the-spot reporting. Monitor this blog for exciting updates!
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A bad weekend for football on Madeira, with both Nacional & Marítimo losing their games. Porto seem to be running away with the points at the moment, but it’s still early days.
The draw for the 2010 World Cup group qualifiers has been made. Portugal are in group 1, along with Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, & Malta. A stiff challenge, but could have been much worse.
there have been comments that some pubs in UK now smell WORSE since smoking ban.Stale cooking ,dogs & unwashed people being to blame!But it's good not to go home smelling of smoke.However it should be remembered that non-smokers are not going to drink more to make up for the pub's loss of revenue with smokers staying away.Where we stayed recently in UK 3 local pubs are struggling and have applied for planning permission to convert to flats!When they're gone they're gone for good and with them a local amenity.
1its true, they don't smell so good !
2