Well... almost

As I left on my vacation 3 weeks ago, I noticed a new bit of landscape at Barajas airport.



No, your eyees do not deceive you!!! That is a designated smokers area

Ok, notice it is empty however

Unfortunately this is not because everyone has become health-concious and quite smoking all of a sudden but rather because the smokers just do not listen to the new announcements over the PA stating that Barajas is now a smoke free airport and if they want to smoke they need to do it in the designated areas (and there are quite a few).

So, while smoke travels, at least this is a first step towards having a smoke free Madrid airport

Saludos,
jer...

I will probably die at Barajas Airport, killed by a smoker when I tell him that he is smoking outside the designated areas... everybody, and worst of all, Spaniards, tend to think that there are no rules on smoking in Spain, and as soon as they step on Spanish land, they light a cigarrette!!! But while the police (i.e., the Guardia Civil) and the airport security services do nothing by themselves, they would ask the smoker to stop doing so, if you previously ask them for that - unless they are smoking themselves!!!

Well of course!!!! Lanzarote Airport has been a smoke free zone for, well I don�t know how long! And of course, those rules only apply to "other people" Not me of course who works there, or the Canarians who come to meet their friends or relatives, or the Spaniards coming from the mainland, or.... or...... or

As a smoker, I say it�s bad enough you can�t smoke on the plane, never mind not being able to have a cigarette when you land!!! After all, an alcoholic can have a drink on the plane. How many times have we heard about people getting drunk and a plane having to be diverted? Did we ever hear about a smoker causing the same problem?

So let us have a fag (sorry - Brit word) as soon as we land please, or at least while we are waiting for our luggage!!! We are addicts!!!!!!

I noticed these "areas" last year when I flew into MAD. I also noticed how "vacant" they were. Since I am a militant non-smoker, I just mix it up with the smoker. A few of my not-so-subtle strategies:

Blow air from your bad-breathy mouth back in their face. [Eating gambas al ajillo prior to this helps]

Cough directly in the smoker's face [don't even think of covering your mouth...s/he doesn't]

Run around the "non-smoking area" asking smokers "�D�nde est� el �rea de sm�king/fumadores?" They really like to be helpful...most of the time being completely oblivious to their own inconsideration.

Happy emphysema to all my smoking friends...and try the Ducados...�matan m�s r�pido! :jeje:

Wooooo, touchy topic I see

Sorry madsue but I must say...

"ajo y agua" :jeje:

Surely you will not know the coloquial meaning of that phrase, there is a challenge for ya, figure it out

Max, I hear ya. Often I tell people smoking in the Metro that it is not allowed and get ignored completely

I also see the "Prosegur" security guards and Metro cleaning crews smoking in the Metro. This is an uphill battle for non-smokers

Saludos,
jer...

On a somewhat related note....does anyone know if smokeless tobacco ("snuff", "dip", "chew" etc.) popular in Spain?

no.

Saludos,
jer...

Jer, Too bad :jeje: (I like that phrase!!)
I hear what you are all saying, but..... I have been smoking for 40 years!!!! Yes, way before anyone really knew what it did to them. And yes, I agree with everyone, its antisocial, it kills, it does whatever, but nicotine is as much a drug as alcohol, heroin, etc etc. How come nicotine addicts don�t get the same sympathy as others?

Madsue,
Sorry, but I have the same sympathy for a smoker as I do a drug addict: I don't. Being an addict, just as an alcholic, is something that takes effort. Its a choice- granted, one hell of a habit if one wants to get out of it- it doesn't matter really which drug, once you're hooked- it gets ugly! But- an alcholic is also capable of keeping his habit to him/herself. A smoker, well, they like to share with everyone- and frankly, an individuals rights end when they start to impose on somebody elses.

To all the smokers out there- smoke till you're hearts content. As a nonsmoker I will shut up in certain situations (bars, clubs) and deal with it, but some places... well a plane is NOT the place for it. Neither is the metro... but the airport, really even as a nonsmoker.. its never bothered me. With such large spaces and so much movement, there really isn't enough to get a cloud going...and unless they're going to put in the rooms like they have at Atlanta for example, (which is cool, you see all the smokers sitting/standing around in the haze they so love and crave! that should get them good and ready for an 8 hour flight wout! ) Like watching a goldfish in a fishbowl that hasn't been cleaned in awhile.

Iberian REALLY!? So you don't have an issue with poisining yourself, or your family with your smoking (children of smokers have a higher occurrance of asthma, emphazima (no I don't know how to spell it) and other ailments than children of nonsmokers- but you have an issue with eating meat. Interesting. Oh, by the way, plants feel pain too. So that doesn't leave much to eat!

People have to eat- what they eat, well... but smoking is not a necessity.

Smoking in public places shouldn't be THAT big of a deal- especially when (for example) bars and clubs are equipped with systems to get the gunk out, but since it would mean a bigger electric bill- they dont As for restaurants- well, you need a WALL between the two- those half wall things don't work- did nobody THINK about that one when they came up with that bright idea?!

:b: I must be an awful person really I smoke to excess, drink loads of wine, just love to eat meat of any kind (well not dog and cat!)

Just the smoking thing is so emotive. Especially on planes!! Espe3, you will know, just how often the air is "changed" in an aircraft? Wouldn�t that filter out the smoke? And I still say that a drunkard on a plane is far more dangerous than a smoker, but hell thats the rules and thats the rules I follow. All UK airports are no smoking zones, and I have sat in the little glass box at BHX to get my nicotine fit, and yes it is a most horrid experience, but this girl had to do it, as there was no outside space to get to till I had collected my luggage. And now the great smoking nation that is Spain is following suit!!!!!!!

I know you can�t smoke on the Metro. Can you smoke on the "big" trains?

quote:

How come nicotine addicts don�t get the same sympathy as others?

Because you cant get cancer from someone else's gin and tonic. :cheers:

Oh how I wish I had pretended to be a non-smoker. Please don�t get at me any more :cry:

Must go, off for a long days airport duty at smokefree Lanzarote Airport

madsue, I don't think you can smoke on the bigger trains either. There may be a smoking car however, not sure.

As for the Air Europa website requiring you to join, I just went and did not need to join up.

Saludos,
jer...

I�ve been on a number of long-distance trains recently and all had a smoking car in the middle. It�s permitted in the buffet car too, in the sense that there are no notices saying not.

In places like transport terminals, there are always notices referring to a Royal Decree of some years ago, which suggests it is a national thing, but enforcement may be the problem in some cases. In fairness to the Metro, I�ve noticed what seems to be a marked decrease in smoking by the security staff recently. I think their jobs must be relatively precarious (they�re contractors) and maybe they have been warned about it.

There�s a saying: having a smoking area in a restaurant is like having a peeing area in a swimming pool. Stephen

(To pee=to urinate, I think it�s a British expression)

Not to degenerate this thread any furhter but we Americans use "pee" as well.

pee
piss
wee
wizz
etc...

Rarely use urinate, too formal :jeje:

Saludos,
jer...