Italy's Capital Bans Smoking in Streets and Public Places – €240 Fine

The Italian capital, Milan, will no longer allow smoking on the street from 1 January. This is the strictest smoking ban in the city to date. With the exception of e-cigarettes, the smoking ban applies to ‘all public places or places for public use, including roads’, except for ‘isolated places where it is possible to maintain a distance of at least 10 metres from other people’. Violators will face fines of up to €240.

The ban is the latest step in an initiative launched in Italy in 2021 to improve air quality in the capital. Officials say the ban also aims to protect public health from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke inhaled by non-smokers in public places. Children are particularly affected by this.

In 2020, the Milan City Council adopted a resolution on air quality in the city, which provides for a gradual ban and reduction of smoking. This was followed by the first ban in 2021, which banned smoking in public parks, playgrounds, bus stops and sports grounds.

Now, the ban, which comes ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, aims to significantly improve the city's air quality.

Milan is currently one of the cities in Europe with the most polluted air. Milan also struggles with many emissions caused by cars and excessive traffic.