Zapatero's Smoke-filled Room Causes a Stink

A sneaky smoking session with a fellow politician may have landed Spain’s Socialist prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, in trouble a few weeks after his government banned smoking in the workplace.

Opposition politicians said they would raise the subject of Mr Zapatero’s smoking habits in parliament after revelations that he and Artur Mas, a prominent Catalan politician, had chain-smoked their way through negotiations on an autonomy bill.

The meeting between Mr Zapatero and Mr Mas was held at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, which, like No 10 Downing Street, is both home and office to the prime minister.

"The Moncloa is a place of work and the law applies to all parts of it, whether it is an office, a meeting room or a salon," the parliamentary health spokeswoman for the opposition People’s party, María Dolores Pan, said.

The outcome of the row looked likely to depend on whether the smoking had taken place in an office or inside the Zapatero family’s apartment.

Government sources told Spanish newspapers yesterday that the meeting had been held in Mr Zapatero’s private quarters, where smoking is allowed.

A Catalan newspaper reported last week that the two men had finished their negotiations "with the sensation of having smoked more than during the rest of their lives."

Pro-smoking groups immediately jumped on the bandwagon.

"In the name of 10 million smokers who are forced to smoke in the street ... we want to know why he smokes at work," fumed the Smokers for Tolerance group.

Mr Zapatero is rarely, if ever, caught in public with a cigarette in his mouth. He is reportedly partial to the harsh tobacco that Spaniards call "negro", of which Ducados is the best-known brand.

The workplace smoking ban has encouraged one in five Spanish smokers to consider giving up.

It has also reportedly caused a 50% surge in sales for Spain’s biggest lollipop manufacturer, Chupa Chups.