In Milan, smoking will soon not be a habit: the Italian capital of fashion and finance has decided to ban cigarettesoutdoors from tomorrow, January 1.

According to the “air quality ordinance” adopted in 2020 by Milan, “as of January 1, 2025, the smoking ban extends to all public places, including streets.”

A ban that does not please Morgan Isak, a smoker who spoke to AFPTV: “The new law is excessive,” said the 46-year-old plumber.

“I agree not to smoke inside or near an elderly person or a child, but to ban smoking outside somehow restricts individual freedom, in my opinion it is excessive,” he explained.

In contrast, Stelina Maria Rita Lombardo, a 56-year-old Milanese woman who works in a school, said she “fully agrees” with the new measure. She does not smoke and believes that “smoking creates too much pollution at a time when we are suffering a lot from climate change.”

The exemption and the fine

A single exemption is provided in the law: “secluded places where it is possible to maintain a distance of at least 10 metres from other people”, which in a city as densely populated as Milan is considered impossible, except perhaps at night. The measure does not apply to e-cigarettes.
The measure does not apply to e-cigarettes.

In case of non-compliance with the ban, the offender will face a fine ranging between 40 and 240 euros.

In the capital of Lombardy, smoking was already banned from 2021 in public places with greenery, unless a safety distance of 10 metres could be maintained, in playgrounds, bus stops and taxi stations, as well as in all sports facilities.

The city of Milan, surrounded by a dense industrial fabric and often recording high levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxide pollution, is particularly sensitive to the fight against air pollution, especially in view of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Italy has thrown itself into the anti-smoking battle since 1975 with a limited ban particularly on public transport. In 1995, the ban was extended to the public sector and in 2005 to all enclosed public places.

Nearly one in five Italians smoke, according to data from the Italian Institute of Statistics (Istat) for 2023, and 93,000 deaths are attributed to smoking each year, according to the health ministry. By comparison, nearly three out of 10 French people smoke, compared to 8 percent in Sweden and 37 percent in Bulgaria.