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Smoke free beaches
IT has been revealed that the Blue Flag network is studying the requirement to be a smokefree beach in order to be awarded their certification.
Galicia currently has 214 smokefree beaches and a spokesperson for the Galician Healthcare Service (SERGAS), Julio García Comesaña, has indicated the Blue Flag network may apply the same rules to beaches across Spain, reported a news source on May 31.
Blue flags are awarded to beaches based on the quality of the bathing water, services and facilities for bathers and environmental management.
However, according to sources, the foundation that grants these awards is now studying to add one more requirement: that the beach be declared a tobaccofree zone. SERGAS has a clear plan: to reduce tobacco consumption.
To achieve this aim, the plan includes the expansion of smokefree outdoor spaces. Galicia currently has 214 smokefree beaches and 18 parks, but this measure will be extended to squares, football pitches, basketball courts, outdoor swimming pools and even university campuses.
Comesaña went on to say: “We have to denaturalise the idea that you can smoke outdoors,” He also pointed out, “and I don’t know if this is an exclusive or not,” that the network of blue flags awarded in Spain by the Association for Environmental and Consumer Education (Adeac) seriously considers, in part to the Galician experience, that the blue flag implies being a smokefree beach.
The antismoking drive also includes a Galician No Tobacco Day, on October 31, together with a network to promote a life without tobacco.
