No smoking on Loano beaches. On Monday, June 8, Mayor Luigi Pignocca issued an ordinance stating that, until September 30, it will be “prohibited for all persons to smoke on all beaches falling within the municipal territory. Smoking is allowed on the beaches only in the specially marked areas.”.
The ordinance responds to requests made by coastal bathers: “At one of our last assemblies,’ explains Loano Sib president Marco Zappa, ”all of us managers unanimously decided to ask the mayor to issue an anti-smoking ordinance for the beaches. In addition to having very impactful repercussions on the health of each of us, smoking is a source of serious pollution: during storm surges, butts that remain hidden in the sand can be dragged into the water, with obvious negative consequences for the entire marine environment. This is an act of civility toward our sea.".
Explains Mayor Pignocca: “With this ordinance, the City of Loano intends to promote good practices to protect public health, including with regard to the fight against smoking and the prevention of the diseases that result from it. Important scientific research carried out by the National Cancer Institute has verified that, under certain environmental conditions, the pollution generated by cigarette smoke under umbrellas can exceed that which occurs in an area with high car traffic.”.
As Environment Councillor Manuela Zunino recalls, in 2020 the city of Doria “achieved the Blue Flag for the eleventh time, which testifies to a path of eco-sustainable growth and special care for the environmental profiles of bathing. In light of this and in parallel with health protection requirements, it is necessary to counter the bad habit of littering smoking products on land or in the water: in addition to environmental pollution, this behavior defaces urban and natural decorum. Not to mention that cigarette smoking waste is composed of non-biodegradable material and contains a large amount of environmentally harmful components such as nicotine, polonium 210, toxic volatile compounds, tar, polycyclic hydrocarbons, cellulose acetate and others.”.
Then there is an aspect related to the city's image: “Loano,” recalls Tourism Councillor Remo Zaccaria, "has a strong tourist vocation linked to its natural and scenic beauty: Throwing cigarette butts on the ground (particularly on the sandy shores) is perceived as a symptom of degradation of the environmental and urban fabric, and for this reason the administration intends to counter the degenerative behaviors consequent to cigarette smoking that harm the right of every citizen to enjoy the well-being offered by living and staying in a habitat endowed with high hygienic and aesthetic decorum of places.".
As mentioned, the smoking ban will not be total: owners and managers of bathing establishments will be able to identify areas set up within which smoking is allowed.
It is also forbidden to litter smoke-produced waste on the ground, in manholes and in water.
Those caught violating the ordinance risk an administrative fine, the amount of which can range from a minimum of 25 to a maximum of 500 euros.
