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We all know that smoking is bad for you and those around you, but it is also bad for the environment, especially on beaches where cigarette butts can be washed into the sea and pollute the water.

 

For this reason, the Region of Murcia was one of the first autonomous communities in Spain to launch the pilot programme ‘Red de Playas sin Humo’ to have a Network of Smoke-free Beaches back in 2018.

 

When it first launched, several coastal municipalities joined the initiative on a voluntary basis, but since then it has stalled and only 13 of the 254 beaches along the Costa Cálida are smoke free.

 

The 13 beaches in the Region of Murcia where smoking is not allowed are spread over a total of six municipalities – Mazarrón (5), San Javier (3), Los Alcázares (2), Cartagena (1), San Pedro del Pinatar (1) and Águilas (1).

 

Olga Monteagudo, head of the Health Promotion and Education Service of the Regional Ministry of Health and the person in charge of the Smoke-free Beaches project, says, “We want to denormalise tobacco consumption and beaches are a target area in which to work, as they are places where young people and many families gather. To do this, we need to raise awareness among people of the benefits of a life without tobacco, promoting healthy lifestyles.”

 

Those in charge of the programme point out that tobacco consumption is the main cause of illness and avoidable death, which has turned it into a serious public health problem.

 

They also point out that the time it takes for a cigarette but to degrade in the sea is about 10 years, although there are studies that show it could be as much as 25 years.

 

During this time, cigarette butts release chemical components that go into the water and have negative effects on marine life. These effects are also present even when butts are left in the sand, and in fact the degradation time there increases.

 

Current legislation on tobacco consumption does not prohibit smoking on beaches, although it does prohibit smoking in other outdoor spaces such as children’s playgrounds and around health centres.

 

 

 

El Rihuete beach (its entire length)

Bahía beach (known as Bahía Chica)

El Castellar beach

La Reya Beach

Nares Beach

 

 

El Pescador sports beach (Santiago de la Ribera, along its entire length)

El Castillico beach (Santiago de la Ribera

Mistral Beach (La Manga)

 

 

La Concha beach (sports area)

Las Salinas beach (sports area)

 

 

La Chapineta beach

 

 

Villananitos Beach (between the wall of the Club Náutico Lo Pagan and the facilities of the Chiringuito Bitákora)

 

 

Cala de las Higuericas