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A citizens' association has demanded further reform of Spain's smoking laws. The Nofumadores (no smoking) association has called on Spain's health ministry to include protection against secondhand smoke entering homes through windows, terraces and ventilation ducts in its smoking law reforms.

A petition for 'smoke-free balconies' has gained more than 25,000 signatures. It comes after the Spanish government approved a draft bill to amend smoking laws across the country in September, where health ministry figures show that 28% of men and 22% of women smoke on a daily basis.

If passed by parliament, the reforms would ban smoking and vaping in a huge range of public spaces, including bar and restaurant terraces, beaches, public swimming pools, sports facilities and outdoor entertainment venues.

However, the president of Nofumadores, Raquel Fernández Megina, said reforms need to go one step further to include second-hand smoke from neighbours. She pointed to California, where such smoke is seen as an environmental risk.

They added: "However, in Spain, there is no protection even from secondhand smoke coming from other people's homes, which somehow 'violates' the privacy of other homes where that smoke is not generated. Spain cannot continue to ignore thousands of families forced to live indoors to protect their health."

One affected reportedly told the association: "My 80-year-old mother can't go out onto the terrace or even get some sun," because every time she opens the door, the neighbour's smoke fills the apartment.

The association also demanded that homeowners must declare whether any smokers have previously lived in the home when they sell the property, again following in the footsteps of California.

In September when the draft bill was approved, health minister Mónica García Gómez said it was intended to put Spain "back at the forefront of the fight against tobacco".

"We know that tobacco claims the lives of 140 people a day in our country, which is 50,000 people a year," she said. "I also want to stress that 30% of cancer tumours are linked to the factors that come from tobacco use."

"We know that the reality has changed when it comes to tobacco and that there are new devices, such as vapes and tobacco-heating devices and nicotine pouches - and this law, for the first time, will regulate all these tobacco-related products, and it will regulate them in a clear and forceful way based on the scientific evidence."