SPAIN: Deep down, you know it will also be good for you. That's the message from Spain's anti-smoking campaign as the country prepares itself for the impending ban due to take effect on January 1st.
And although it has the backing of the vast majority, deep down many Spaniards believe it will be difficult to enforce, as most still see smoking as an inherent right.
Come Sunday, smoky boardrooms will become a thing of the past when the ashtray is permanently removed from the office desk. Smoking will not be tolerated in universities, schools, sports centres or other public spaces.
Bars and restaurants more than 100sq m (328sq ft) will have to curtail smoking to a cordoned-off area, while smaller venues will be forced to decide either to allow smoking and exclude children, or outlaw the habit and continue to welcome families.
In a country where one in every three people smoke and where 50,000 deaths in the over-35 age group are smoking-related, the legislation is by and large welcomed, putting Spain on a par with the rest of Europe as the continent shifts towards a smoke-free culture.
Spanish minister for health Elena Salgado has said she wants to see the country's smoking population drop from its current 31 per cent to 5 per cent within a two-year period.
We're behind you, 77 per cent of Spaniards recently told the government in a poll carried out by the Centre for Sociological Research. Yet few expect the government will have an easy time enforcing the ban, with two out of every three people surveyed predicting tough times ahead.
"This is Spain," argues Inma de Blas, a 40-year-old television journalist.
"We not only smoke tobacco, we grow it as well. Asking us to stop smoking is like asking you Irish to stop drinking pints," she argues. "It just doesn't happen."
And it's true. Tobacco was not known in Europe until Christopher Columbus introduced the Indian tradition of smoking leaves to the Iberian Peninsula on his return from his epic 1492 voyage. Five hundred years on, the tradition of smoking is firmly entrenched here.
It's not uncommon to have the bank clerk skilfully count out your cash with a slight flick of ash from a cigarillo. Or indeed for the market vendor to carefully wrap up your fresh meat, fish and vegetables while he idly puffs on a cigarette. Not to mention pubs and bars where cigarette butts carpet the floors.
The country is a big producer of tobacco and, according to the FNCT (the national federation of tobacco-growers), Spain cultivated around 40,000 tonnes of tobacco each year for the last three years.
On the manufacturing side, where home-grown tobacco is mixed with imports, the figures are even more staggering.
Last year, Spain manufactured 54 billion cigarettes, according to the AET, the state-controlled tobacco industry.
There are around 14 million smokers in Spain, not counting visitors to the country - the second most-visited in the world, after the United States. And the industry is all too aware that the proposed ban could seriously damage its health.
Earlier this year, Altadis (the Spanish-French makers of such brands as Fortuna, Gauloise and Ducados) introduced its new range of low-cost cigarettes as it tried to brace itself for the blow. Ducados Rubio are now selling at €1.35 for a packet of 20 - their regular brands sell for around €2.20 - making it very hard for the needy addict to pass them by.
But, as Altadis would argue, business is business.
And for the user, the messages are confusing. "Deep down, you know it will also be good for you" is the government line.
"But deep down, you know you really want to" is what Altadis is trying to say.