An article on the Crowded Planet website dated June 2016 paints an idyllic picture of life on a small island in the middle of the Aegean sea.
An hour by plane from Athens, or eleven hours by ferry, Astypalea ‘is far removed from the well-trodden tourist trails around the Greek islands’.
According to the author (who was invited to the island as part of a media trip organised by the municipality of Astypalea):
Orthodox Easter is a wonderful time to explore Greece – the weather is warm, tourists haven’t yet arrived and locals are happy to welcome visitors to join the celebrations. This year, we were lucky to spend Orthodox Easter on a Greek island, Astypalea, a remote and unspoilt piece of heaven.
In the streets, in the courtyards, behind of the walls of their homes, people got ready for the big day. And as night fell, it looked as if the whole island had descended to the two small churches – St. Nicholas, not far from Astypalea’s old port, and Panagia Portaitissa, where I stood, lost in the crowd.
And then – Christos Anesti. Lights, fireworks, raki. Music, cigarette smoke. Food. Plates coming out of the kitchen, one after another. Grilled sausages. Chips specked with oregano. Salty taramasalata. Garlicky tzatziki. Two a.m. and we were still at the table. A small club – Greek pop music, cigarette smoke, beer.
Note the reference to ‘cigarette smoke’ - not once but twice and not in a bad way. It’s significant because, on October 3, 2019, the tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) chose to celebrate the fact that Astypalea had become ‘the first Smoke-Free Culture certified island in the world’ (whatever that means).
The island received the Smoke-Free Culture certification from TUV Austria, a leading independent certification organization, recognizing their commitment to reduce cigarette smoking by implementing and continuously improving a set of actions that encourage quitting, which remains the best option for smokers’ health, or switching to better alternatives if they do not quit.
“We are proud to support this initiative and congratulate Astypalea on their efforts. We hope that other destinations around the world will follow their example by embracing a smoke-free culture,” said Frederic de Wilde, President European Union Region at PMI.
Like most people, I’d never heard of Astypalea before PMI’s announcement so I immediately searched online. In addition to the Crowded Planet article - which was presumably part of an attempt to promote the island to potential tourists - this is what I found.
According to the last census in 2011, the island has a population of just 1,334 residents. Compare that with some other Greek islands:
Crete, 623,000
Corfu, 102,000
Kos, 31,000
Santorini, 15,550
Or these UK islands:
Isle of Wight, 141,500
Isle of Man, 90,000
Isle of Skye, 10,000
Isle of Arran, 4,500
Isles of Scilly, 2,300
In other words, the population of Astypalea is tiny. It is, literally, a little drop in the ocean.
In population terms, the UK equivalent might be Barra, an island in the Outer Hebrides. Despite this, PMI saw fit to trumpet Astypelea’s smoke free ‘certification’ in a series of press releases, website posts and videos.
After a bit more digging I found that Astypalea’s plan to become the first Greek island to go ‘smoke free’ was announced a year ago (October 2018) as part of an attempt to rebrand the island as a ‘wellness destination’.
I don’t know how I missed it at the time but I discovered that:
The initiative comes within its newly launched tourism campaign titled “Astypalea: Τhe Aegean Energy Spring” and is organized by the Astypalea Municipality in collaboration with the South Aegean Region, with the support of the Papastratos company.
Another report described Papastratos as the ‘sponsor of the project’. So who are they?
It won’t come as a surprise to readers of this blog if I tell you that Papastratos is a Greek tobacco company owned by ... Philip Morris International.
And the concept of ‘Smoke-Free Destinations’ was introduced not by Tobacco Control, as you might expect, but by ... Philip Morris International.
As I said, Astypelea is a tiny island with no more residents than the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides. But the importance of this project should not be underestimated.
In 2001 a tobacco company executive dismissed my fears that a smoking ban in Ireland might have serious consequences for the UK. He told me (and I paraphrase), “Ireland is a small market. In the overall scheme of things it has very little influence.”
That’s not how it turned out, is it? The smoking ban in Ireland influenced the Scottish Government to follow suit, and that led to similar legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
I’m guessing that PMI chose Astypelea as part of its ‘Smoke-Free Destinations’ project for the very reason that it is so small. This is all about building momentum and promoting PMI’s commitment to a ‘smoke free’ future.
The good news is that, at the end of a week-long holiday in Corfu, a much larger Greek island, I can tell you that even in our ‘no smoking’ resort it is no problem if you want to smoke on the many balconies and terraces, all of them well sheltered from poor weather (not that we’ve had any).
In truth, I’ve seen very few people smoking, but I think that’s because most guests are British, or are here with young families. Despite that, ashtrays are everywhere if you want to light up. The same is true of every cafe we visited outside the resort.
Smoke free culture? Not here, that’s for sure.
Even on Astypelea, ‘the first Smoke-Free Culture certified island in the world’, smoking is not yet an offence.
The campaign will not policed, but it will rely on the good-will of residents and tourists alike, says Mayor of Astypalea Panormitis Kontaratos.
“We prefer to rely on everyone’s philotimo and not on the implementation of police measures. After all, the latter have not brought any significant results in Greece. All our efforts will focus on information and awareness,” says Kontaratos.
That’s something, I suppose. Meanwhile, expect further announcements from PMI regarding its Smoke-Free Destinations project. I’ll keep you posted.
Update: Eamonn Butler, director of the Adam Smith Institute, takes issue with PMI’s claim that Astypalea is the world’s first smoke free island. He tweets:
Maybe the second. Holy Isle near Arran is owned by Buddhist monks and they don’t allow tobacco, alcohol or drugs. Or vapes I guess.
Ah, but have they been awarded a Smoke-Free Culture certification? I’m guessing not.
Good point, though. Anyone else know of any more ‘smoke free’ islands?
