The catering industry believes that 14% of all bars and restaurants in the Canary Islands are likely to close during 2010 due to the anti-smoking law.

The president of the association of bars, restaurants and cafés (Federation of Catering and Tourism Businesses or the FEHT), Fernando Company, made this estimate amidst accusations that the Government is being more papal than the pope in relation to the tobacco prohibition in public spaces.

‘It will be total ruin in these times of crisis’ he commented, ‘stating that the likely decrease in business would see restaurants losing 7% in sales, whilst bars and cafés would see falls of between 10 and 15%, whilst nightclubs would probably experience a fall of greater than 15%.’

During 2009, most businesses had seen an average fall of 8% in sales when compared with figures for 2008, whilst 2008’s figures represented a decline of 6% on the figures for 2007. Thus an accumulated decline has seen sales fall between 20 and 25% in the last three years. According to Company an important part of the hostelry clientele are smokers, with his estimate that 40 to 45% consume tobacco products whilst they are visiting bars, restaurants and clubs.

To add weight to his claim that the law is damaging local business he cited the case of Ireland, which introduced a smoking ban in public spaces in 2004. Since then, 8.6% of restaurants, and 24% of bars had closed, although he conceded that the same level of closures was unlikely in the Canaries, due to the climate making smoking out side much more feasible.

However, the industry needed to remember that much of the decrease in business was as much to do with the economic crisis as the introduction of the anti-smoking law, although many businesses had had to invest between 20,000 and 25,000 euros to adapt their premise in compliance with the law, which was introduced in 2006.