Barcelona recently announced that it will ban smoking on all of its 10 city beaches from July this year. This means there will be a total of five kilometres of smoke-free sand in Spain’s second-largest city. Last year, Barcelona decided to ban smoking on four of its main beaches between May 29th and September 12th as a trial run, and this year has extended the ban all year round to all its beaches, due to the success. 

Many in Barcelona have praised the move, while many others have taken to social media to express their anger at the rule.

As well as being horrible to find between your toes when sunbathing or when your kids are building a sandcastle, cigarette butts are harmful to the environment and marine life. 

A discarded cigarette butt is made of over 97 percent cellulose acetate and contains 4,000+ chemical toxins.

But, discarded cigarette butts are just half the issue, the other problem is the smoke, which on Spain’s crowded beaches can affect the health and well-being of many others around. 

Barcelona is of course not the only Spanish city to have banned smoking on its public beaches. We take a look at which other beaches across the country have put a stop to it. 

Catalonia

Besides the 10 beaches in Barcelona, many of Catalonia’s beaches have banned smoking, all the way up to the Costa Brava. In fact, Catalonia became the first region to designate a ‘smoke-free’ beach when the town of L’Escala introduced the rule back in 2006. Since then, it has been extended to a total of 19 beaches in the region, these include Sant Feliu, Sant Pol, Canyerets in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Playa de Ocata in El Masnou, Playa de Sa Boadella, Canyelles, Treumal and Fenals in Lloret de Mar, and Playa de L’Escala.