TOURISTS face a new £25 fine for smoking on a city’s beaches.

Council chiefs yesterday extended last year’s ban at four locations in Barcelona, ​​Spain, out of the ten beaches from July.

They cite health reasons and say it takes a decade for cigarette butts to decay.

Eloi Badia, councilor for the ecological transition, said: “No one was fined last year, and only the strange absent-minded smoker had to be asked to move to the promenade.”

The ban will come into effect after an information campaign starting in April.

The Spanish government has proposed measures to extend the current ban on smoking in public places to terraces and beaches.

But the ambitious new anti-tobacco law being drafted, which is also expected to include a ban on turning on lights in passenger cars, is not expected to be fully drafted until 2023.

The country’s health ministry also wants to drive up the price of tobacco through additional taxes.

Spanish smoke-free legislation currently prohibits smoking in many indoor public places.

Cafe and bar owners should mount a vigorous campaign against any changes to existing laws.