Smoking is still allowed on Badalona's beaches this bathing season, even as most coastal municipalities in the Barcelona area have moved to ban it. For local residents and visitors, that means non-smokers on Badalona's seafront do not have the same protection from second-hand smoke that already applies on many neighbouring beaches.

According to the Diputació de Barcelona, the provincial council has offered all 25 coastal councils in the province a model beach ordinance that includes a smoking ban and has provided information and signage material for smoke-free beaches. But the ban itself is the responsibility of each individual Ajuntament, or town hall. Badalona has not adopted that local ban.

This year, Badalona and Castelldefels are the only two municipalities in the metropolitan area that have not joined the campaign promoted by the Diputació de Barcelona. The same provincial body says it wants to position the 106 beaches in its 25 coastal municipalities as health spaces ahead of the 2025 bathing season, using a shared ordinance template and common signage.

Who decides whether smoking is banned

The Diputació's own guidance is explicit: banning smoking on beaches is a municipal power. The provincial council can promote the policy, supply a draft ordinance and distribute signs, but each council must approve its own rules.

"The prohibition of smoking on beaches is the responsibility of each Ajuntament," the Diputació de Barcelona says in its campaign material.

That distinction matters in Badalona, where the absence of a ban is not because the campaign does not exist, but because the local authority has not brought in its own smoke-free beach rule. The primary source material supplied does not state that Badalona has approved any beach smoking prohibition.

How far the smoke-free campaign has spread

The provincial campaign has expanded quickly. The Diputació says the first beach smoking restrictions in Barcelona province were introduced on some beaches in Vilanova i la Geltrú in 2020 and Sitges in 2021. The first municipalities to ban tobacco across all their beaches were Calella in 2022, El Masnou in 2023 and Barcelona city in 2022, after a 2021 pilot.

More recently, the provincial body says one beach in Caldes d'Estrac joined in 2024, while Sant Pol de Mar has already adopted the ordinance it promoted. Public consultations have also been under way in Cubelles and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, and Premià de Mar, Vilassar de Mar and Sant Vicenç de Montalt were expected to join the measure.

  • 25 coastal municipalities in the province were offered the model ordinance by the Diputació.
  • 106 beaches are covered by the provincial initiative, according to the official campaign material.
  • Badalona and Castelldefels remain outside the metropolitan smoke-free beach campaign this year.

Separate reporting cited in the source materials says bans on some beaches can carry fines of up to 750 euros, but the official Diputació documents provided here do not set out a single province-wide penalty because enforcement depends on each municipal ordinance.

What it means on Badalona's sand

The debate among beach users in Badalona is divided, according to the reported accounts in the source materials. Even so, there is broad agreement on one point: cigarette ends should not be left in the sand.

For families, swimmers and anyone who wants a smoke-free place to sit, the practical consequence is simple. On Badalona's beaches, smoking remains permitted unless and until the Ajuntament changes the local rules. On many nearby beaches, councils have already chosen the opposite approach.

Non-smokers are one of the groups cited by the campaign's promoters. In reporting included among the supplied materials, Diputació president Lluïsa Moret said the aim is to create beaches that are "more healthy, sustainable and clean", while the provincial deputy for public health, Josep Ramon Mut, said shrinking beach space linked to climate change increases nuisance for passive smokers.

Residents who want to know whether a beach is covered by a ban should check the signage on site and the rules issued by the relevant Ajuntament. In Badalona, the supplied official sources do not show a smoke-free beach ordinance currently in force.

Primary sources: Diputació de Barcelona, Diputació de Barcelona, barcelona.cat. Reported by Source Text Link, capgros.elnacional.cat, catalannews.com, Yael Carrasco, barna.news, Rocío Mendoza, Por Lydia Hernández Téllez Agregar Infobae en Agrega Infobae a tus medios preferidos en Google, euroweeklynews.com, Emily Chaplin, Marcos Aceña, independent.co.uk, Álex Aragonés, El País, metropoliabierta.elespanol.com, El Periódico Barcelona.