From betting on spaces without smoke or tobacco, betting on health to distributing ashtrays to smokers. The Councilor for Public Health and Citizen Security of Valladolid, Alberto Cuadrado Toquero (Vox), distributed last Thursday 7,500 portable and reusable ashtrays at the patron saint festivities of that city within the framework of the 'It depends on EVERYONE' campaign.
The intention is to "raise awareness about how cigarette butts should be disposed of", forgetting the health problems linked to smoking.
Tobacco causes approximately 150 deaths per day in Spain, as shown by a study in the Spanish Journal of Cardiology. In total, smoking kills approximately 54,000 people a year in the country, according to a study echoed by the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC) and the Spanish Heart Foundation (FEC). Of all of them, more than 1,000 are attributable to environmental smoke from tobacco, according to calculations by the National Committee for the Prevention of Tobacco (CNPT).
Despite this, the councilor requested the collaboration of citizens to prevent cigarette butts from ending up on the ground, “thus improving the cleanliness of Valladolid and contributing to the environment,” according to a press release.
In a statement, the City Council explained that it is an action thanks to the collaboration between the Valladolid City Council and the Tobacco Table, "which represents the value chain of the tobacco sector in Spain, that is, growers, processors, manufacturers of tobacco products and vending machines, importers, wholesale distribution and tobacconists.
The Valladolid City Council explained that "it aims to raise awareness about the dirt and environmental problems that arise from throwing cigarette butts on the ground and requests citizen collaboration to avoid this practice."
The former socialist mayor Alberto Bustos has shown his astonishment on Twitter. "Incredible! Valladolid had become a reference in defense and protection of health. Today, the HEALTH Councilor of the new PP/Vox government team begins the distribution of 7,500 ashtrays in collaboration with the Tobacco Table. “Amazing!”, he has denounced.
