Up in Smoke - A night at the football

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At the start of this year the French enforced new laws in regards to smoking in public places. This was a massive cultural shift but one that the French are embracing albeit with great difficulty - it is a shame that the Spanish do not enforce this law here (especially in Madrid).

Normally I can accept the fact that people want to smoke - what I don’t accept is that people choose to smoke at the dinner table, in bars and restaurants and in my face at the football!

Last night I was lucky enough to go to the iconic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid to watch Real Madrid play Juventus. My PwC mate Rafa Vinas was most generous and made a couple of phone calls to see he could get me a ticket to the game and thankfully one was available.

Sadly I struggled to breathe through all the cigarette smoke that I was forced to inhale. I walked away with stinging eyes and shortness of breath thanks to those who were lighting up during the game. Surely 90 minutes without a cigarette isnt too much to ask?

Many Spanish people will consider a ban on smoking to a breach of their freedom I would consider it to be a leap into the 21st century.

It seems in Madrid that smoking is an essential part of socialising. You can cough and wave the smoke away as wildly as you like but you will be ignored.

Smoking has been banned in a number of public places in Spain however the laws are only as strong as the willingness to enforce them. I’d love to come back here again one day and discover that smoking in restaurants is just a hazy memory however it may take a long time.

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Photos

Butt Out!!
The sooner stronger anti-smoking laws are enforced in Madrid, the better!

On arrival at the stadium
The atmosphere outside the stadium was quite intimidating, the build up to this match has been massive here in Madrid

The line-ups
Both sides line up before the kick off

A sea of people
88 000 people packed into the stadium last night to see Real Madrid get beaten 2-0 by Italian giants Juventus