Is smoking allowed on the beach?

It’s done! Capri has just banned bathers from lighting up on the beach. The municipality of the famous island in the Bay of Naples has just passed an ordinance in an attempt to become a so-called “tobacco-free” destination. Offenders face fines ranging from 25 to 500 euros. In the hope of protecting “decency, quality of life and public health”, Capri wants at all costs to prevent cigarette butts from being thrown into the sea or on its sidewalks. Smoking areas have therefore been set up.

The Italian example is far from unique. The famous Spanish seaside resort of Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava has just adopted the same measure. This concerns both beaches and coves. Bathing areas are now designated as so-called “smoke-free” areas. This is why cigarettes are banned, as are their electronic counterparts.With this proposal, we are working towards a more friendly and sustainable Lloret that preserves the environment and the right of citizens to enjoy a cleaner public space, without smoke or cigarette butts, while preserving public coexistence and health.“, explained Mayor Adrià Lamelas. Smokers can only count on the terraces of beach bars to satisfy their craving, provided that the manager decides to authorize it.

While new measures have emerged in recent years to better preserve the environment, with the introduction of a quota of bathers for example, this summer of 2024 is marked by the ban on smoking on beaches. It is included in the French government’s anti-smoking plan, unveiled at the end of November, for the period 2023-2027. Several initiatives have also been taken at the local level to separate smokers from other bathers.

While the national anti-smoking program had planned to prevent smoking in certain public places such as beaches, green spaces, forests and outside schools, the Arcachon town hall took action at the beginning of the summer by banning cigarettes on the 7 km of beaches along its coastline. This concerns tobacco but also electronic cigarettes, even if the signage to warn potential offenders is not yet ready. For its part, the town of Mèze in Hérault created two beach areas reserved for non-smokers last June. Located on the edge of the Thau lagoon, the municipality intends to be involved in the fight against smoking as well as in the preservation of its environment, the area of ​​which is classified as Natura 2000.

The ban on smoking on beaches seems to be becoming more widespread. While the Principality of Monaco has chosen to make it temporary for the summer season on some of its public beaches (you can light a cigarette on private beaches that allow it), thousands of kilometers from the Rock, in Mexico, beaches are considered public spaces in the same way as a restaurant or a bar. This is why the government has banned smoking there since January 15.