From the Spain Herald:
Fallout from anti-smoking law begins
Though health minister Elena Salgado said that the new anti-smoking law had been accepted “with complete normality,” Spain’s newsagents have announced a strike on January 30, along with a petition drive, to permit them to sell cigarettes. They feel discriminated against because bars and restaurants are still permitted to sell tobacco, but they are not. According to the president of the newsagents’ association, Juan Viciosa, the prohibition on cigarette sales may reduce their revenues by as much as 30%, putting many news dealers out of business. Viciosa said the new law has favored other sectors by giving bars and restaurants eight months to comply and the motor racing industry three years. “They’ve taken away all our rights with the stroke of a pen and probably one of every three newsstands will end up closing,” he said. There are some 35,000 newsstands in Spain.
It’s tough in small business all over the world. They seem to have a point. For many newsagents in Australia tobacco provides important foot traffic and revenue. It’s a legal product so restrictions on where it can be purchased ought to be challenged.