Until not so very long ago Greek MPs thought nothing of lighting up in the august halls of the Athens parliament.
So common was the habit that a thick fog of cigarette smoke often hovered over the building’s cafe, a few metres from the legislative chamber where deputies had once voted to ban smoking in all public spaces, including the 300-seat House.
Nine years, 10 months and 26 days after that ban came into effect, lawmakers are finally being forced to abide by it too.
“There’s definitely been a change,” said Dimitris Tarantsas, who has waited on MPs from behind the cafe’s bench-top bar for the past 18 years. “The law, for the first time, is being upheld.”
By Monday, he says, even the metal ashtrays still gracing the one place where smoking is allowed – a vestibule off the cafe – will have been relocated to the dustbin of history as the building officially becomes a smoke-free zone. » | Helena Smith in Athens | Monday, July 29, 2019
