¿Por qué nosotros no? Acción Ciudadana por la Salud y el cambio de la Ley Española de Tabaco

... implementation of the law (2006-2008)."

Another important point is that this reduction has been observed basically among the group of non-smokers (-15%) and people aged over 65 (-18%). This, according to Roberto Elosua, the coordinator for research in cardiovascular epidemiology and genetics at IMIM, suggests that "the population group that has benefited the most from the law passed in 2006 is that of non-smokers, since their passive exposure to tobacco smoke has decreased."

Coronary heart disease occurs when not enough blood reaches the heart to supply its muscle cells, and is the main cause of death in industrialised countries. In Spain, the most recent statistics show that this disease in 2011 caused 35,268 deaths (9.2% of the total) and 52,725 patients were taken to hospital with an acute myocardial infarction, which is one of the most severe consequences of coronary heart disease. Besides the impact this has on the health of individuals, acute myocardial infarctions have a huge economic impact on society, with an estimated annual cost in Spain of around 1.46 billion Euros.

One of the main risk factors causing acute myocardial infarctions is smoking. In Spain, around 30% of the adult population state they are smokers; even if this percentage has dropped slightly, it continues to be high and has a great impact on cardiovascular health. It is estimated that smoking is the reason behind 20% of the burden of heart disease in European countries, and that passive exposure to tobacco smoke causes around 2,500 of the deaths due to coronary heart disease (7%) in Spain.

Spain has passed two smoke-free legislations: one in December 2005 (Law 28/2005), which entered into force on January 1st 2006; and another one in December 2010 (Law 42/2010) which entered into force on January 1st 2011. The first of these two laws was considered a partial smoke-free law since besides regulating the selling and advertising of tobacco, it banned smoking in the workplace and in hospitality establishments larger than 100 m2 (unless a specific smoking area was created). However, in hospitality establishments smaller than 100m2 it was left to the discretion of the owner of these establishments. In the law of 2011, smoking was banned in all public places.

At present, the effect of the smoke-free legislation which entered into force 2011 is yet to be studied; however, according to researchers, results seen from the partial smoking ban in public places would support the effectiveness of this type of legislation in reducing the burden of disease among the population.

* with the participation of IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) from Barcelona, the Josep Trueta Hospital, the Blanes Hospital and IDIAP Jordi Gol from Girona (Primary Healthcare Research Institute)

... the land for the project would be opened in the spring. The land earmarked for the project currently does not have the necessary zoning category, but the Madrid administration is sure it can overcome that problem, the premier added.

The first phase alone will create 40,000 direct jobs and 80,000, while the whole project could generate about a quarter of a million direct and indirect jobs, according to the regional government.

Las Vegas Sands’ chief operating officer and president, Michael Leven, said the first phase would involve the construction of four resorts, each with 3,000 rooms, as well as commercial, convention and leisure centers. He said the company hires 10,000 people directly at its Singapore complex. The vast majority of employees at the Eurovegas complex will be Spanish, he added.

Leven said that Adelson, who did not attend the news conference, had been dreaming of making this project in Madrid a reality for the past 12 years.

“This is a special and very important day for Madrid and Spain,” González told reporters. “This is an exciting and extraordinary project, the objective of which is to make Madrid the chief center for conventions in southern Europe.”

The Madrid assembly passed a special law in October of last year in order to meet a series of demands from Adelson, particularly in terms of tax treatment. The tax rate on winnings from gaming was reduced from 40 percent to 10 percent for the project, while there will be no limit on the height of the towers to be built on the site.

“From the tax point of view almost everything has been resolved apart from a few changes on the part of the central government,” González said. The premier said minors would continue to be barred from gambling, the proceeds from which he calculated would represent only 17 percent of the estimated revenues generated by the project.

Adelson has also asked for Spain’s blanket ban on smoking in public places to be lifted on the casino site. “The smoking issue is also the responsibility of the central government,” González said. “It will be working on the issue, which will be resolved in the next few months,” he said.