The Health Ministry began the distribution on Christmas Eve of four million guides to giving up smoking.

The tips, distributed in the Spanish press, began to be distributed just a week before the new Smoking Law comes into effect in January, when smoking will be banned in the workplace, and restricted in bars and restaurants.

Thirty percent of Spain’s population are smokers. The guide issued by the government, entitled ‘You can give up smoking – tips to achieve it,’ is part of a campaign to prepare smokers for the new law.

The campaign has a budget of 3.7 million euros, and centres on the health benefits of a smoke-free world, for passive smokers as well as for smokers themselves.

The guide includes alternative activities to smoking, and identifies high-risk situations for those who want to give up: first thing in the morning, coffee, watching television, etc.

One thing explained by the guide which many smokers may not be aware of: burning tobacco releases a type of smoke which contains more than 4,000 chemical substances: more than fifty of them are carcinogenic.

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