Milan to ban smoking in public places starting 2025

By Baris Seckin

ROME (AA) - Milan, Italy’s second-largest city, will enforce a ban on smoking in outdoor public spaces starting Jan. 1, 2025 as part of its ongoing climate and air quality improvement efforts.

The updated regulation builds on restrictions first introduced in 2021, which prohibited smoking in specific public areas such as stadiums, parks, cemeteries and bus stops.

Under the new rules, smoking outdoors will only be allowed in designated areas, provided smokers maintain a minimum distance of 10 meters (33 feet) from others. Those who violate the rule will face fines ranging from €40 to €240 ($43 to $258).

The measure is part of Milan's larger environmental initiative aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions by half by 2050.

Tobacco producers and retailers, however, are said to be planning to contest the ban in regional courts, arguing that the municipality lacks the jurisdiction to implement such a regulation.

In April, Turin, another major northern industrial city, enacted a similar ban, prohibiting smoking outdoors when others are within a five-meter distance.