Well Spain banned smoking in public places -including pubs- on the first of January this year. "Bugger this", I thought, forced outside in a freezing rainy night halfway through January.
So I researched alternatives...I LIKE smoking but really don't want to be treated like a black in Georgia circa 1950. That isn't a racial slur by the way; and I expect it's probably not the way one should make your first post but what the hell. For the record, being black in Georgia in the 1950s was a lot worse because you *choose* to smoke. Even if every cell in your body is ordering you to go and have a ciggy RIGHT NOW, it's still a choice.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting the smoking ban to take; and it hasn't fully. As an example; when I moved out here from the UK 7 years ago, smoking in airports was banned in both countries. In the UK smoking stopped. In Spain there were still ashtrays every 30 yards and everybody ignored the signs. This gave me hope. The populace of Spain still believe in freedom and know what the lack means; having recently (1972) finished with a dictatorship.
Of course these days Spain is hovering on the brink of bankruptcy and not only passed the laws, but also imposed massive fines for both smoker AND bigger ones for the proprietor of the business. Being skint, Spain wants to collect. And so it came to pass.
There is still resistance, of course. You're allowed to smoke outside and Spanish bar owners are redefining the word 'outside' harder than a cluster of lawyers could go at the word 'overtime'.
So that's why. There's racial prejudice enough being a foreigner in Spain without being added to another minority that people can gang up on.
I went with an Ego-T after reading through the forum. For new readers and people considering it, the most useful resource I found was The Wonderful World of vaping series here:
The ECF Library
So I bought the e-cig purposely to smoke in pubs. As a side-effect I gave up tobacco. Mission successful so far. 1 month without tobacco and counting.
So I researched alternatives...I LIKE smoking but really don't want to be treated like a black in Georgia circa 1950. That isn't a racial slur by the way; and I expect it's probably not the way one should make your first post but what the hell. For the record, being black in Georgia in the 1950s was a lot worse because you *choose* to smoke. Even if every cell in your body is ordering you to go and have a ciggy RIGHT NOW, it's still a choice.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting the smoking ban to take; and it hasn't fully. As an example; when I moved out here from the UK 7 years ago, smoking in airports was banned in both countries. In the UK smoking stopped. In Spain there were still ashtrays every 30 yards and everybody ignored the signs. This gave me hope. The populace of Spain still believe in freedom and know what the lack means; having recently (1972) finished with a dictatorship.
Of course these days Spain is hovering on the brink of bankruptcy and not only passed the laws, but also imposed massive fines for both smoker AND bigger ones for the proprietor of the business. Being skint, Spain wants to collect. And so it came to pass.
There is still resistance, of course. You're allowed to smoke outside and Spanish bar owners are redefining the word 'outside' harder than a cluster of lawyers could go at the word 'overtime'.
So that's why. There's racial prejudice enough being a foreigner in Spain without being added to another minority that people can gang up on.
I went with an Ego-T after reading through the forum. For new readers and people considering it, the most useful resource I found was The Wonderful World of vaping series here:
The ECF Library
So I bought the e-cig purposely to smoke in pubs. As a side-effect I gave up tobacco. Mission successful so far. 1 month without tobacco and counting.
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