Smoking ban

… in virtually all cafes, bars, and restaurants

Correio dos Açores reports that as of today, January 1, 2023, a partial smoking ban will come into effect. Smoking will only be allowed in cafes, bars, restaurants and nightclubs that have at least 100 square metres of surface area and a ceiling height of at least 3 metres, in accordance with a diploma published in the Diário da República.

The capacity and ventilation of these establishments will have to be previously validated by a responsible engineer specialized in air conditioning.

With the entry into force of this diploma throughout the country, smoking will not be allowed in virtually all bars and clubs in the Azores, as they will have to be more than 100 square metres and three metres high.

All customers of cafes, bars, restaurants and nightclubs, if they want to smoke, must stop what they are doing to smoke outside the establishment.
 
The legislation now published in the Diário da República approves rules for the protection of citizens from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke and measures to reduce demand related to dependence and the cessation of consumption.
In the previous legislation, dated August 2017, the maximum capacity of places where people smoked was defined by the owner of the establishment or by the entities responsible for the establishments (…) “must be in accordance with the fire safety project in buildings and validated by an engineer or technical engineer with specialization in HVAC Engineering, enrolled in the respective Professional Association”.

According to the legislation, “the interconnection between the rooms where smoking is allowed and the other spaces where smoking is not allowed, located inside the same building, is carried out through an antechamber with a minimum of 4 square meters, duly ventilated and with doors automatic sliding doors, either at the entrance or at the exit”.
“The opening time of the entrance door of the rooms where smoking is allowed cannot have the same time as the opening time of the exit door”, reads the legislation that comes into force on 1 January.
It is defined in the diploma that, “in catering or drinking establishments, including those with rooms or spaces intended for dancing, places where smoking is allowed in areas intended for customers may be set up, provided that these establishments have an area intended for customers equal to or greater than 100 square meters and a minimum ceiling height of 3 metres”.

Children under the age of 18 cannot enter smoking areas.