Even those working in their own separate offices would not be permitted a cigarette, Health Minister Elena Salgado explained on Sunday, "so as to avoid any distinction between people in high-up jobs and those further down the hierarchy".

Millions of signs reading "Prohibido Fumar," or "No Smoking," have sprung up in work places, bars and restaurants and public buildings around the country, which first imported the tobacco habit into Europe 500 years ago.

At the same time, curbs on the advertising and sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products have been introduced.  

Spain's 40 million people on average consume 2,300 cigarettes a year. That is 850 more than the European average. And smoking kills 50,000 people a year in Spain, 16 percent of all deaths among those aged more than 35, according to the Ministry of Health.

Drastic steps

Such drastic steps were needed in Spain because unlike its European neighbors, the country had no previous laws curbing tobacco use, Salgado was quoted as saying by the Europa news agency.