Los Cabos Travelers Will Be Able To Smoke In Restaurants Again After Recent Court Ruling

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Last Updated 10 months ago

On January 15th, 2023, a new federal law was passed prohibiting smoking in all restaurants and some public places across Mexico.

This new law was naturally not met with praise from smokers who felt that their rights were being diminished.

Also, local restaurants in cities like Los Cabos had to contend with disgruntled travelers who were not being allowed to smoke within these restaurants — even in designated areas out in the open, away from the main dining hall. 

Local restaurant owners in Los Cabos began to see a drop in attendance and revenue due to this new law. This prompted them to push for an appeal to have the effects of the new law revoked.

The appeal was presented by the national chamber that represents restaurants across all of Mexico. As of this weekend, 200 Cabo restaurants that are members of this organization will be able to benefit from this appeal by setting up designated smoking areas within the restaurant itself. 

How This New Appeal Makes Smoking At Cabo Restaurants Different

Essentially the new appeal is going to allow restaurants to set up designated smoking areas just as had been the case prior to the new law taking effect at the start of the year.

During this period between January and July, people who wanted to take a smoke break while dining at a Cabo restaurant had to leave the facility and smoke on the street, something that angered plenty of tourists who voiced their concerns to restaurant owners.

This led to restaurant owners pressuring their unions to promote this appeal. 

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The ban applied to not only traditional cigarettes but e-cigarettes or vape pens. These last two are more commonly used by American travelers, according to leaders of the local restaurant industry.

Therefore, the appeal would allow these designated smoking areas to be used by people smoking cigarettes or vape pens.

Perhaps the most important change is the smoking area can be located within the restaurant itself.

That would mean the return of open terraces in restaurants that overlook the marina as the designated smoking areas for some of the most popular spots in Cabo.

One of the things that helped the appeal come through was the fact that people were smoking on the street, and this led to streets ending up full of cigarettes.

This Appeal Does Not Apply To All Cabo Restaurants  

As previously mentioned, since the appeal was given to a specific organization only restaurants that are part of that organization are essentially granted immunity from the law.

According to the national chamber of restaurateurs there are about 200 member restaurants within Cabo. For travelers this means that they could still be asked to not smoke at some local restaurants.

Most of the Cabo restaurants that are not part of this organization are typically smaller street food venues.

The rules within these spots, though, were ambiguous to begin with. Since some of them are directly located on the street, smoking was technically still “allowed”.

Plus, with this new appeal it’s still unclear if local authorities are going to put in too much effort to locate some of these restaurants that are not part of the organization to enforce this law.

Technically speaking though, tourists could still be asked not to smoke at some Cabo food venues. 

The Appeal Does Not Change The Law In Beaches & Public Parks

Another important element regarding this appeal that travelers will need to account for is that the appeal does not apply to beaches, public parks, or hotels.

Tourists can still be asked to put their cigarettes out or vape pens away if they are spotted smoking in any of these places. The appeal, on the other hand, can put beach clubs and beachside restaurants in a bit of a predicament.

Technically speaking, the designated smoking area could not be located directly on the beach. These types of spots will have to check with local authorities to set up valid designated smoking areas.

For travelers, the best course of action would be to directly ask the staff at any restaurant they enter where the designated smoking area is before using vape pens or smoking traditional cigarettes.