Italy's restaurant and bar owners are fuming over a smoking ban that could consign to the history books the Dolce Vita image of divas and Latin Lovers idling with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Reuters reports that after Malta, it's the turn of Italy to turn into a battleground between the pro and against smoking lobbies. The controversial new regulations came into force in Malta in October.
Reuters says Italy is due to outlaw smoking in many places from January 10 and the battle against the ban moved into high gear when the bar and restaurant association discovered owners could be hit with a 2,200 euro (1,512 pound) fine if they failed to alert the police when a customer refused to stub out a cigarette.
taly's proposal sees smoking prohibited in almost every place except the home. Along with restaurants and bars, offices and any private building where the public may walk are included.
Fines will be levelled for smoking in protected areas, failing to report a smoker and also for not putting up the correct "No Smoking" signs in the correct place.
Italy's bar owners and restaurateurs also complain the medieval and Renaissance buildings many of their businesses are housed in are not strong enough to withstand the renovation needed to create the insulated rooms required for smokers.
"These threats are empty and arguments are useless, the law is coming into force on January 10," Health Minister Girolamo Sirchiatold reporters.
"The public is tired of being suffocated by fumes where they work and where they play, and, regardless of the whining of a few, we have a duty to follow this path."
Italy's ban plan follows similar moves in Ireland, New York, Norway and Malta, which have seen varying levels of success.
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