Spain: Underage Smokers in Ibiza and Formentera Will Have Their Cigarettes and Lighters Seized by Police

Source from:  ThinkSpain.com  05/26/2014

Underage teens will have their cigarettes confiscated if they are caught smoking in Ibiza and Formentera in accordance with a new law aimed at protecting minors.

From next Friday, even carrying cigarettes or roll-your-own tobacco is enough to get under-18s into hot water with the police and with their parents, and officers will take any lighters, rolling papers or other related items away from the offending children.

This means young holidaymakers from countries where smoking is permitted in youths aged 16 or 17 – such as the UK – will have to abstain from their habit until they get home.

Authorities admit the regional law - which as yet only applies to two islands – will be difficult to enforce, since there is no national legislation which makes it a crime for under-18s to smoke in the street, only bans them from actually buying cigarettes.

But police in Ibiza and Formentera have chosen to interpret Article 60 of the Balearic Minors Law, which states that authorities will intervene in the event of 'any situation which could present minor or major harm to the physical health' of a child or underage teenager, in its strictest possible sense.

Officers will treat the situation exactly the same as if they found a member of the public consuming or in possession of illegal drugs, with the exception that the children's parents will be given 15 days to collect the cigarettes and lighters if they want them back.

Parents who knowingly allow their children to smoke, or turn a blind eye to it, will be summoned to appear before the social services at their local council.

They could then be charged with child neglect. Enditem