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SMOKING

What you need to know about Sweden’s new smoking ban

From July 1st it is no longer be legal in Sweden to smoke in outdoor public places including bus and train station platforms and outdoor areas of bars and restaurants, meaning there is now almost no public place left where smokers can indulge their habit.

What you need to know about Sweden's new smoking ban
Indra Bowen smoking one of the last legal pavement cigarettes. Photo: Stina Gullander/TT
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The new stricter smoking ban, which came into force on Monday morning, extends even to e-cigarettes. 

But Stockholm City said it was planning to defy the ban, allowing three well-known outdoor bars to continue offering an outdoor 'smoking room'. 
 
“From a political point of view with have asked our officials to take a pragmatic view over outdoor 'smoking rooms' for smokers, and we are ready stand firm on that decision if it gets tested in court,” Jan Jönsson, a Liberal councillor on Stockholm City council, told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper. 
 
At least three restaurants, Trädgården at Skanstull, Slakthuset, and the Mosebacke terrace at Södra Teater in Södermalm plan to offer an outdoor 'smoking room', with the city government's support. 
 
The law allows restaurants to have sealed-off smoking sections, but customers are not allowed to bring their drinks there or consume food, and as the areas are supposed to be sealed off, it remains to be seen if Sweden's national authorities accept these restaurants' plans. 
 
Other cities are already taking action, with Malmö setting up strategic “Fimpzoner” or “Stub Out Zones” in three places, including the cobbled Lilla Torget square, which is known for its outdoor restaurants.  
 
“As far as I know Malmö is the first in Sweden to have this sort of solution with Stub Out Zones in public places,” Sverker Haraldsson, project leader in the city's housing and traffic department, said in a statement
 
One of the new 'Stub Out Zones' in Malmö's Lilla Torg square. Photo: Malmö Stad
 
As well as pavement cafés, the new law also extends the ban on smoking in public places to places used for sports, such as football pitches.
 
It also bans smoking at bus stops and playgrounds. 
 

Member comments

  1. Hello all. I am living in the uk now but am planning to move back home with my english family. Our boys are 16 and 11. My worry is about their schooling. They dnt speak swedish so i am worried about the 16 year old more. Is it too late or will it be ok?
    Any suggestions or ideas for a smoothish ride would be greatly appreciated.

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POLICE

Spain’s Civil Guard police officers allowed to have visible tattoos

Spain on Monday relaxed its policy banning officers from the country's oldest police force, the Guardia Civil, from exhibiting tattoos.

civil guard spain gun
The increasing popularity of tattoos has led police forces around the world to regulate their use. Photo: Rafa Rivas/AFP

Officers will now be allowed to display tattoos anywhere on their bodies “as long as they do not contain expressions that violate constitutional values or harm the discipline or image of the force,” the interior minister said in a statement.

“For the first time visible tattoos will be allowed on uniformed officers,” it added.

On the other hand, the decree prohibits hoop earrings, spikes, plugs and other inserts when they are visible in uniform, “except regular earrings, for both male and female personnel”.

The Guardia Civil mainly patrols and investigates crimes in rural areas, while Spain’s National Police focuses on urban areas.

Last year Spain’s leftist government appointed a woman to head the force for the first time in its 177-year history.

The increasing popularity of tattoos has led police forces around the world to regulate their use.

Los Angeles police are required to ensure that tattoos are not visible to the public while on-duty, while France’s Gendarmes police force also requires that they be covered.

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