6 06 2008
It was “World no tobacco day” recently, for which the Asociación Española contra el cáncer joined forces with Salamanca council, and the Asociación Salmantina de laringectomizados. It’s always a wondrous moment when the wheezing, malodorous smokers of the world interlock tar stained digits and leave off their vile habit for a liberated, if rather shaky, 24 hours.
Well realistically, it’s the day when non smokers go around feeling rather more smug than usual and wagging the odd finger at their “dirty” smoking chums – not that smokers themselves are any the less self righteous (only slightly more defensively so).
Salmantinos I’ve spoken to seem appalled when I tell them that it’s virtually impossible to light up in public in England. This attitude to smoking is one of those deep cultural differences which exhibits a fairly typical North/south European divide. But are there any non smokers in Salamanca? Well, no, not if you consider the massive amount of passive smoking a typical Spaniard indulges in every day. According to a number of reports only about 30% of the Spanish smoke. But anyone who has lived here will be sceptical of such a figure knowing that those Salmantinos who generally have less than ten cigarettes a day think of themselves as “non smokers”. A local has informed me that smoking will never be banned here because it’s so “strongly cultural”, well yes, but only since the mid 16th century surely. Besides, the “It’s a part of our culture” argument is one which is often used when something’s fairly indefensible. Possibly the biggest issue for non smokers is the lack of thought smokers frequently exhibit concerning those around them. Consideration for others is something that both Spanish and English cultures value – but which they express in very different ways. For the English such consideration consists of respecting one’s space (both physical and emotional). By Contrast, the Castellano approach, seemingly forbidding at first, consists of explosions of warmth at close proximity that are often as frightening as they are beguiling. Many travellers, such as wander the streets of Salamanca, oscillate ceaselessly between these two very different worlds alternately charmed then galled by one then the other. What you realise, if your social circle is wide and exotic enough, is that the world isn’t divided into “smokers” and “non smokers” – rather into those who are “considerate” and those who are “inconsiderate”.
