Spain will ban smoking on ALL beaches and fine anyone caught lighting up £1,700

Spain is set to ban smoking on all of its beaches, allowing councils to fine offenders up to 2,000 euros (£1,700).

The national law aims to combat pollution caused by cigarette butts which are a major environmental issue on the country's 3,000 miles of coastline.

Cigarette butts are one of most harmful pollutants, containing a non-biodegradable plastic polymer that releases toxic compounds.

Several Spanish regions, including Barcelona and the Canary islands, have already introduced similar smoking bans on beaches.

The measure comes months after a petition was signed by more than 283,000 people and delivered to the government requesting a change to the law.

Spain is set to ban smoking on all of its beaches months after a petition was signed by more than 283,000 people and delivered to the government. Pictured: A sign saying that smoking is prohibited on July 11, 2020 in Sanxenxo, Galicia, Spain [file photo]

The new law was introduced by a green party as an amendment to a less drastic government initiative to recommend coastal area promote smoking-free beaches.

Some beaches introduced smoking bans last summer in a bit to limit the spread of the coronavirus, to promote health and cut pollution.

Other regions in Europe have also moved to ban smoking on beaches, including some areas of southern France and Sardinia.

However, Spain's nationwide ban is the first of its kind in Europe.

The law was passed months after a petition with more 283,000 signatures was delivered to the government calling for action against beach pollution.

Fernandez Megina, a member of the No Fumadores (No Smoking) campaign group, said the petition showed the government could not wait to act any longer.

The law received 182 votes in parliament, with 70 voting against it and 88 abstaining.

It was backed by The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, the left wing party Podemos and the centrist Citizens party. The ultra-nationalist party Vox voted against it, while the conservative People's Party abstained.

Analysis done by the European Environment Agency in 2018 found cigarette butts and the filters inside them to be among the most commonly found items on Europe's beaches.

The harm done by cigarette butts has been widely reported, with scientists warning that nicotine, metals and benzene contained within them may seep out.

Pictured: A beach in Barcelona with a ban on throwing cigarettes onto the sand

Pictured: A man is seen smoking on a beach in Almunecar, Andalisia, Spain [file photo)

This can contaminate soil and aquatic habitats, with filters also being a serious risk to marine life, as they can be swallowed by animals.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has made environment issues central to his government's policy, and has set a target for Spain to be carbon neutral by 2050.

News of the law came as the Omicron variant look set to further dent Spain's tourism industry, which has already been hit hard by the global pandemic.

The number of nights booked by tourists in Spanish hotels surged five-fold in November from the same month a year earlier, but was still 20 percent lower than in November 2019, data released on Thursday showed.

The number of nights booked rose to 14.8 million in November, up from 2.8 million in the same month in 2020, the National Statistics Department said on Thursday.

About 40 percent of the hotel rooms were booked by Spanish residents, and most of the foreigners went to the Canary Islands. The winter is a strong season for the Canaries, where Northern European like to travel to enjoy the warm weather.

The data is encouraging for the tourism-dependent Spanish economy, which has seen a strong recovery of the industry in the past months, although the Omicron variant may have a negative impact.

A pedestrian walks in the empty central street of La Rambla, in Barcelona, on the night of December 23 to December 24, 2021, as Spain's Catalonia reimposes a night-time curfew

Shoppers wearing a face mask as a protection against Covid-19, walk past Christmas lights in the streets of Madrid, on December 22, 2021

The government expects the number of foreign tourists coming to the country in the fourth quarter would reach two-thirds of its 2019 level, before the pandemic struck.

Currently, only tourists who are fully vaccinated can enter Spain from the UK. Those who are not vaccinated and travelling for tourism purposes may not enter Spain, and only those who are unvaccinated and travelling for 'essential' purposes may enter.

Spain is also set to make it compulsory to wear a face mask outdoors again as part of a package aimed at containing the fast spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters on Wednesday.

With nearly 80 percent of its population vaccinated and a booster programme gathering pace, Spain was largely spared the rampant wave of infections that led several northern European countries to toughen restrictions in the autumn.

But the recent arrival of Omicron has sent numbers rocketing, with a record of around 60,000 new infections on Wednesday, though hospital admissions and intensive-care cases remain fairly low compared to previous COVID-19 waves.

Some experts and opposition parties have criticised Sanchez for not reimposing restrictions on movement to due the spread of Omicron, as other European countries such as Portugal or the Netherlands have done, but he rejected this.

'This is not March 2020 or Christmas 2020,' said Sanchez, citing the high vaccination rate of the Spanish population in contrast with those earlier stages of the pandemic when vaccines were not available.

Indoor mask-wearing was already mandatory in Spain and many Spaniards choose to cover their faces outdoors too, although the legal obligation to do so was dropped in June.