All of the newspaper/magazine (prensa) stands were closed today because the workers are on strike. Not for higher wages mind you, this is a socialist country, but because they can't sell tobacco anymore. When the new tobacco law came into effect in January, the stands stopped being allowed to sell cigarettes. But it turns out that cigarettes account for about 30% of their income.
The struggle with tobacco is interesting, because it seems like the government is against it, whereas the citizens are completely in favor. Much more blantant than in the US, packs of cigarettes sport large bolded messages that read "Fumar Puede Matar (Smoking can kill)" and another phrase about how secondhand smoke is bad for children. Packs are about half as expensive, but perhaps that's because Spain is one of the founding countries of the cigarette phenomenon. Despite this new law, I don't see things changing so dramatically, but it's interesting witnessing the struggle.
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3 comments:
That's pretty nifty. The whole tobacco law...I'd like to see the States try to pass that law XD Now that would make for interesting news.
CA has it! You can´t smoke anywhere in CA. Of course, you live in the city where everything´s legal, so that´s not happening yet.
Yes, California is a very progressive state. I think we're doing an article about Ca doing things before other states in February or March Falconer issue!
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