After joining the initiative “Smoke-free beaches, healthy beaches 2023,” organized by the Directorate General of Public Health and Participation, Spain’s Balearic Islands will have 28 smoke-free beaches this year.
The campaign has been promoted by the Directorate General of Public Health and Participation, in conjunction with the start of the tourist season, the Directorate General of Waste and Environmental Education, and the municipalities of the Islands, with the aim of promoting smoke-free environments generally and outdoor spaces in particular.
As the Balearic coast is a recreational area for the pleasure of outdoor activities that directly enhance people’s health, one of the objectives is to establish a network of healthy beaches. One of the main global causes of disease and avoidable death is tobacco usage. The campaign’s proponents contend that studies have proven that inhaling smoke from tobacco products can result in health issues comparable to those brought on by cigarette smoking.
More than 7,000 hazardous compounds found in tobacco waste are harmful to the environment. The most frequent type of garbage discovered in marine litter is cigarette butts. This initiative, which kicked off in 2019 with two beaches in the municipalities of Sant Llus and Santany, has already expanded to 28 beaches after beginning this year with nine additional beaches. Ibiza and Mallorca are the locations of these new beaches.
This year, the beaches of Formentor, Albercutx, Cala Barques, and Cala Molins have been added to Pollença in Mallorca. The adhering municipalities will be able to place a four-meter banner on each smoke-free beach as an innovation of this year’s campaign, and to facilitate its identification and dissemination. Additionally, the informative stickers will have QR codes that link to the diptychs of previous campaigns, reducing the use of paper. The communities’ smoke-free beaches are anticipated to develop into a place of coexistence where accountability and personal decorum are encouraged, ultimately creating a healthier environment for families.
Smoke-free beaches are becoming more and more popular as a family vacation destination. All of the beaches are mentioned on the program’s website so that the public can identify them. Municipalities that are interested in participating must submit their application to the General Directorate of Public Health and Participation via the aforementioned website and distribute it from the council page.
According to a 2018 survey by the European Environment Agency, cigarettes and the filters that make up their butts are the most often discovered goods on European beaches. Filters are easily ingested by animals, and their component parts, like as nicotine and benzene, pollute soil and aquatic ecosystems. Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister of Spain, has made environmental concerns a key component of his policies. By 2050, his administration wants to have the nation carbon neutral.
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