In Milan, Italy’s fashion capital, smoking is no longer trendy. The city has decided to ban smoking outside from January 1, a first in Italy. According to the “air quality ordinance” adopted in 2020 by Milan, “from January 1, 2025, the smoking ban is extended to all public spaces, including streets“.
Unsurprisingly, it is at the tobacconist that this is the most annoying. Claudio, retired, pipe smoker denounces a “illiberal measure” : “Today there is a smoking ban. And tomorrow, what? To eat too much fat, too sweet?“, he growls.
Outside the door of his café, Hilario scratches his head: “Honestly, I don’t know how to handle this situation…“Of his ten tables on the sidewalk, all are equipped with ashtrays. And he has no intention of removing them.”I can’t control people and stop them from smoking. I’m a bartender, I don’t take that responsibility“, he says.
In the event of non-compliance with this ban, the offender is liable to a fine ranging from 40 to 240 euros. “Well done!“, slips Elena, behind her cappuccino, for whom, if people were well brought up, there would be no need to crack down. “Smokers have been looking for it. There will be no more cigarette butts. It’s always taken for the decor of life“, she laughs.
Only one exception is tolerated: isolated places where it is possible to maintain a distance of at least ten meters from other people, specifies the official document. Which in a dense and populated city like Milan is a feat. Please note that electronic cigarettes are not affected by this measure.
But how to control? At Confcommercio, which represents traders in particular, we fear that the ax will fall on restaurateurs. “It’s easier to control people sitting on the terrace of a café. So we fear that the controls will concentrate on the bar tables“, according to Carlo Squeri, one of the members of the largest business confederation in Italy.
The town hall implies that there will be few controls and defends the measure in the name of the fight against tobacco in general and for the protection of passive smokers. Daniela Giangreco, of the League for the Fight Against Tumors, approves 100%. “When this law came into force 20 years ago, it was a revolution in Italy. People were against it. But today, no one would imagine smoking in a bar“, she underlines, remembering the beginnings of the equivalent of the Evin law in France. In the Lombard capital, smoking had already been banned since 2021 in public green spaces, except when it was possible to respect a safety distance of ten meters in children’s play areas, at bus stops and taxi stations, as well as in all sports facilities.
The League presents a poll according to which seven out of ten Milanese are in favor of the measure. The town hall, with a supporting study, adds an argument: in this polluted city of Milan, cigarette smoke is responsible for 7% of fine particle emissions.
